Tuesday's Radio & Media News - May 7, 2013

If Rush Leaves Cumulus, Will They Still Have Mike Huckabee? If Rush Limbaugh follows through on his threat to pull his Premiere Networks syndicated radio show from Cumulus stations, will those stations be able to fill the gap with Mike Huckabee's show? Huckabee is now raising questions about the future of his show, syndicated by Cumulus Media. Or at least that's the spin being placed on comments from Huckabee in an interview with Arkansas Business. Those reporting radio and media news are using headlines such as "Are Mike Huckabee's Radio Days Numbered?" and "Is Huck Done With Radio Already?" Arkansas Business uses the more benign headline, "Mike Huckabee Talks TV, Radio Career, Mulls Political Future." Cumulus, of course, launched Huckabee's radio show with much fanfare hoping Huckabee would eventually replace, or at least compete with Limbaugh. But Rush remains far more successful, and hopes of Huckabee outpacing him remain far from a reality. The former Arkansas governor and onetime presidential candidate ("and rising media personality") is "contemplating his future, including the return on investment of his year-old syndicated radio show," writes Arkansas Business. "Within the next month, I'll decide if I want to continue it or not. I know we will, but it's just such an incredibly intensive process that I really have to decide that I want to spend that kind of time," says Huckabee about the future of his radio program. "I've got to always weigh how much time I'm putting in it and what the return is. How long it will take to make it what I call hopefully disgustingly profitable. That’s what one always hopes for in a deal like this." It's interesting to note that Huckabee talked last week with Arkansas Business about his media presence -- before the threats came from Limbaugh's camp that Rush's show is considering ending its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year. Those threats were leaked to Politico and the New York Daily News, and were immediately picked up by those reporting radio and media news. Limbaugh is said to not be too happy with Cumulus Chairman/CEO Lew Dickey's often repeated comments blaming Limbaugh's controversial comments about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke for diminishing ad revenue for the past year, and that the slump remains a "residual hangover" for Cumulus. The three-hour weekday Mike Huckabee radio show, syndicated through Cumulus Media, airs nationally on about 225 stations, including 10 in Arkansas. Huckabee says the live show can require up to 10-hour workdays. "A typical day starts at 4:30am, with show prep happening from then until he goes on the air at 11am, with possible breaks for reading local newspapers while on an exercise bike or for taking his dogs on walks on the beach. The show is broadcast from Huckabee's home in Florida, where he has a radio studio that doubles as his 'man cave,' he said," writes Arkansas Business. "I love doing the show. I love the ability that it affords me to connect to people right then and there. You know, radio is so immediate. It’s one thing that I’ve always loved about radio," says Huckabee. "If something starts happening, you immediately not only can start talking about it, but listeners can begin calling, being a part of any discussion within seconds after a breaking news story." Read Huckabee's full interview with Arkansas Business here. Blair Garner to Host Wakeup on NYC's '94.7 Nash FM'? Blair Garner is reportedly expected to be named morning host at New York City's new Country "94.7 Nash FM" WNSH-FM, with the show originating from Nashville. An official announcement from Cumulus Media is expected soon, say several reports, noting that there's no confirmation yet from "94.7 Nash FM" or its parent company. Garner is currently the host of Premiere Networks' syndicated "After MidNite" and "The Blair Garner Show" (essentially the same show with different names). It's not yet known how a morning host position at WNSH-FM would affect his continued role with those shows, but there is speculation that Garner would exit Premiere in favor of a possible Cumulus syndication deal for the new morning show -- and possibly another weekly show for Country stations as well. As a Country music radio personality, Garner won the Academy of Country Music's "On-Air Personality of the Year" award in 2004 and 2006, and he has also been nominated for the prestigious Marconi Award and for "Nationally Syndicated Air Personality" by Billboard Magazine. Over his career, Blair has worked at stations across the country, including Dallas, Washington DC, Houston, New York City and Los Angeles. Reports that Garner will soon be announced as the "Nash" morning host -- with the show based in Nashville -- note this would afford him direct access to the top Country music artists, most of whom live just a short distance from his studios. Garner's current programs focus on Country music hits, along with recent music news and chat about pop culture. In addition, Blair is recognized as one of Nashville's best interviewers. Country Music's top stars, including Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, and Reba McEntire have made it a point to appear on Blair's show to promote their projects. Garner has also interviewed stars outside of Nashville, including Kevin Costner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lionel Richie, Henry Winkler, Joan Rivers, Kathy Lee Gifford, and WWE and UFC superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena and Brock Lesnar. "The Blair Garner Show" and "After MidNite with Blair Garner" are syndicated nationally by Premiere Networks. Both programs are nearly identical to each other in every manner except for the name. "After MidNite" is heard on about 250 affiliates across the U.S, while "The Blair Garner Show" airs in Canada and has some music substituted for Canadian content. "After MidNite" is currently heard on WSIX-FM, Nashville, and is simulcast on SiriusXM. Entercom Sacramento Promotes Jim Fox to Operations Manager Entercom Sacramento promotes Active Rock "98 Rock" KRXQ-FM and Alternative Rock "Radio 94.7" KKDO-FM Station Manager Jim Fox to Operations Manager for the six-station cluster. In his new role, he will oversee the brands of KRXQ-FM, KKDO-FM, CHR "107.9 The End" KDND-FM, Classic Rock "The Eagle" KSEG-FM, AC "Star 106.5" KBZC-FM and "ESPN 1320" KCTC-AM. Fox will continue his day-to-day supervision of "Radio 94.7" and "98 Rock." Entercom Sacramento VP/Market Manager Sean Shannon tells us, "Jim has proven himself invaluable to the company in his role as format captain for our Alternative and Active Rock stations. I have asked him to provide the same kind of leadership for the rest of our winning brands, creating better products for our listeners and better results for our clients." Fox, we're told, will work closely with Station Managers Curtiss Johnson (KSEG), Nikki Nite (KDND/KBZC) and Brian Lopez (KCTC). Previously the 30-plus-year radio veteran has worked in San Jose, Fresno, Memphis and Fort Wayne before coming to Entercom Sacramento in 2003 to become Station Manager for KRXQ-FM. In 2010, he added the same role for, and launched, KKDO-FM. Cumulus Media Q1 Revenue Down 1.3% Cumulus Media reports that first quarter net revenues decreased $3.1 million, or 1.3%, to $232.9 million, compared to $236 million for Q1 2012. "This decrease was attributable to lower political revenues and general lower advertising spending in some of our markets," says Cumulus. "Direct operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2013 increased $10.6 million, or 6.9%, to $164.2 million, compared to $153.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The increase was primarily attributable to a $1.0 million increase in sales salaries, a $1.6 million increase in Arbitron fees and a $4.9 million increase in expense at our network division as we invest in various content initiatives." Says Chairman and CEO Lew Dickey, "With the integration and turnaround of the Citadel assets now largely behind us, we are investing in several key content initiatives to drive growth beginning in the back half of this year and accelerating into 2014. We will post positive year-to-date revenue growth through May and expect our investments in CBS Sports Radio, Traffic, Nash and SweetJack to contribute meaningfully to our cash flow beginning in Q4 of this year." Cumulus also reports, "Corporate general and administrative expenses, including stock-based compensation expense, for the three months ended March 31, 2013 decreased $2.8 million, or 16.9%, to $13.9 million, compared to $16.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in stock-based compensation expense of $4.3 million, partially offset by a $1.2 million increase in acquisition related costs. Acquisition related costs for the three months ended March 31, 2013 included exit costs associated with a lease for vacated Citadel office space." Read more from Cumulus Media here. Saga Communications Q1 Net Income Up 9% Saga Communications reports a 9% increase in net income for the first quarter to $3 million (51 cents/diluted share) as compared to $2.7 million (48 cents) for Q1 2012. Net revenue decreased 1.3% to $29 million from $29.3 million, while operating income from continuing operations decreased 1.9% to $4.9 million compared to $5.0 million for the same period last year. Station operating expense decreased 1.2% to $22.1 million. CFO Sam Bush says this year's first quarter was challenging from a revenue perspective. National revenue was down $505,000 and Political revenue was $500,000 one year ago compared to $62,000 in 2013. Income from continuing operations was $0.47 per share, compared to $0.48 per share in the year-ago period. On average, two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.46 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Salem Q1 Revenue Increases 2.5% Broadcast Revenue Decreases 1.6% Salem Communications reports a 2.5% increase in total revenue for the first quarter to $55.6 million from $54.3 million in 2012. Net broadcast revenue, however, was down 1.6% to $43.2 million from $44.0 million. Station operating income (SOI) decreased 7.7% to $13.7 million from $14.8 million. Same station SOI fell 7.4% to $13.8 million from $14.9 million. Salem says. though, that its Internet revenue increased 30.7% and represented 17.5% of first quarter total revenue. Nevertheless, Salem reports a net loss of $18.6 million (75 cents/share), compared to a net income of $0.8 million (3 cents) in the year-ago period. The overall revenue gain includes radio, Internet and publishing. For the second quarter of 2013, Salem is projecting total revenue to increase 2% to 4% over Q2 2012 total revenue of $57.6 million. Salem is also projecting operating expenses to grow 2% to 5% as compared to Q2 operating expenses of $47.6 million. Arbitron Q1 Revenue Up 5.1% But Earnings Down Arbitron reports first quarter revenue increased 5.1% to $111.8 million from $106.3 million in Q1 2012. Operating income declined 2.7% to $30.3 million from $31.2 million. Costs and expenses for the quarter, says Arbitron, include $3.2 million of consulting, legal, and other expenses related to the pending merger with Nielsen, which impacted net income by 12 cents per diluted share. That, we're told, is why net income dropped to $16.2 million (61 cents/share) from $17.8 million (64 cents) in the year-ago period. Says President and CEO Sean Creamer, "In the first quarter, we continued to pursue our long-standing objectives: maintaining our investments in the quality of our radio ratings services, growing our core revenue, and entering new markets such as digital radio, cross-platform, and mobile. Our focus on the quality of our core services helped us achieve Media Rating Council accreditation of four additional Portable People Meter markets in February. Our goal remains achieving or maintaining accreditation in all our syndicated radio markets. We continue working to leverage our investment in the PPM technology and consumer panels utilizing our platform in new initiatives such as advertising and promotion effectiveness studies, while enhancing our measurement capabilities for radio and across platforms." Pandora Succeeding in Cost Cutting with 40-Hour Cap Pandora, long plagued by high streaming royalty costs, is succeeding in cutting those costs with its new monthly 40-hour limit on mobile users, says Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy. He tells Bloomberg Businessweek that the streaming music service (which he calls "radio") has cut costs as intended, while the audience continued to grow. "Pandora streamed 1.31 billion hours of songs in April, the first full month with the cap in place, a 5.1% drop from February's 1.38 billion. "The decline in hours will be very closely mirrored in content acquisition costs," says Kennedy, although he declines to provide specifics. Pandora is seeking to control costs with the 40-hour cap, and apparently has done so -- without turning off listeners. The company notes that of the users who hit the limit in March, 86% returned to use the service in April. "Some coped by switching to Pandora's unlimited desktop version, while others chose to pay," says Kennedy. "People found a way to make it work for them. The vast majority found one or a combo of those methods worked for them." He notes that users climbed to 70.1 million in April -- up about 3.5% from February's 67.7 million, and a gain of 0.9% from March. Clear Channel World Premieres New Mariah Carey Single Clear Channel Media and Entertainment launched Mariah Carey's new single -- "#Beautiful" featuring Miguel -- with "a unique, day-long world premiere event across more than 230 Clear Channel radio stations nationwide" on Monday (April 6). Island Def Jam Music Group partnered with Clear Channel to introduce fans to the new Mariah Carey single by creating a world premiere event that leveraged Clear Channel's radio stations across five different formats and its relationship with listeners. Beginning Monday at 7am ET, "#Beautiful" played at the top of each hour until 11pm that on CHR-Top40, Rhythmic CHR, Mainstream AC, Hot AC and Mainstream Urban stations. "Fans can also listen to the single on participating station websites and on iHeartRadio.com, which features a link to listen to the new single on-demand," says CCME. "Mariah Carey is a music icon and using the power of our radio stations to launch her new single is a unique opportunity to display our collective strength to the record community around the country," says CCME National Programming Platforms President Tom Poleman. "Equally as important, we also used this moment in Mariah's music career to create an exclusive and exciting day-long event for our listeners." Island Def Jam Music Group President/COO Steve Bartels adds, "We are thrilled to partner with Clear Channel and their properties for this unprecedented multi-format global launch of Mariah's new smash single. The support of our radio partners has always been instrumental in Mariah's chart domination and the early positive reception to '#Beautiful' shows she has another big hit on her hands. Let's Go!" Community Broadcasters Acquiring Seven Backyard Broadcasting Stations Community Broadcasters announces the acquisition of Backyard Broadcasting’s seven stations in Elmira-Corning and Olean, NY. "Founded by radio industry veterans Jim Leven and Bruce Mittman, Community Broadcasters LLC, a broadcast company backed by Northwood Ventures LLC, is proud to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire seven additional radio stations spanning two new markets, bringing the total number of stations to 15 across four markets," says the announcement. "The stations will be purchased from Backyard Broadcasting. Terms of the acquisition agreement, which was filed with the FCC today, were not disclosed. Five stations are added to Community Broadcasters family of stations in Elmira-Corning, NY and two stations are added in Olean, NY. Kalil & Co., Inc. is the exclusive broker of this acquisition." We're told the new stations that will join Community Broadcasters are: in Elmira-Corning, "WNKI-FM-106.1-#1 Hit Music Station, WNGZ-FM-104.9-Classic Rock, WPGI-FM-100.9-Country, WWLZ-AM-820-News/Talk/Sports, WRCE-AM-1490-Simulcast / WNGZ-880-Classic Rock; and in Olean, WPIG-FM-95.7-Country, WHDL-AM-1450-Oldies." Says Community Broadcasters President and CEO Jim Leven, “We are looking forward to working with the teams in Elmira-Corning and Olean to integrate the seven additional stations into the Community Broadcasters' family of stations. These new markets add to our cluster in upstate NY, further strengthening our position as a premiere broadcast entity in the region.” Backyard Broadcasting President/CEO Barry Drake adds, “Knowing Community Broadcasters’ dedication to creating strong local radio I am pleased to see these leading stations add to their footprint in New York." Community Broadcasters currently has eight stations in Watertown, NY, and Ogdensburg, NY. Meanwhile, we now learn that Woof Boom Radio has agreed to acquire seven Indiana station from Backyard Broadcasting and Indiana Sabrecom. Included in the deal are WERK-FM, WLBC-FM, WXFN-AM and FM translator W275AJ, WHBU-AM, WMQX-FM and WMXQ-FM. Woof Boom Radio is an Indiana-based company headed by J. Chapman. This is Woof Boom Radio's first acquisition. Says Chapman, "I believe that radio is an effective and unmatched way for those with a message to reach listeners. Radio works when it's authentic and local. You can hear passion and you can't fake it. It's all about truly caring about the community you serve. We understand that to be effective you have to be local. These are great and well run stations, I'm truly excited about the opportunities ahead." Kalil & Co. is the broker for this transaction. J.D. Power: Vehicle Owners Want Smartphone Connectivity Vehicle owners have a high interest in technology related to device/application linking for smartphones, wireless connectivity, fuel economy, natural language voice activation and a variety of infotainment features for their next vehicle, according to J.D. Power's "2013 U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study." The study measures vehicle owner interest and purchase intent for emerging automotive technologies, both before and after the market price is revealed. Among vehicle owners who say they "definitely would" or "probably would" purchase these features in their next vehicle, the highest percentage select five technologies both pre-price and at market price. The study finds car owners want the ability to connect their smartphones to the dashboard more than any other automotive feature. According to the study, 82% of smartphone owners would like automakers to include this feature, up from 78% a year ago. The second-most popular request was for voice-activation (76%) that also would be used in conjunction with smartphones. According to J.D. Power, over 67% of vehicle owners also have a smartphone, while traditional mobile phone ownership has dropped from 82% in 2007 to just 28% in 2013. "Automakers have an important opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by working side by side with smartphone and application developers to provide a seamless smartphone experience for in-vehicle control of GPS/mapping, music, weather, search tools, travel and more," says Executive Director of Global Automotive Mike Vannieuwkyuk. "These connections to smartphone applications need to be robust, affordable and simple to access and use in a vehicle environment." Vehicle owners in Generation Y (born 1977-1995) are more likely to be interested in device application linking technology at every price level, but the largest interest increases from 2012 are among Early Boomers, those who were born between 1947 and 1953 (increasing 7% pre-price; 14% at $250), which indicates high potential to purchase this technology. Pre-price purchase interest is also higher among men, compared with women, and owners of compact sporty and midsize premium sporty cars, compared with owners in all other vehicle segments. Behind the Microphone: The Ins and Outs of Radio Classic Hits WLS-FM, Chicago, promotes weekender Danny Lake to afternoon host. He's been working weekends at WLS-FM since 2008 ... Maverick is named Program Director and midday host at CHR-Top40 "1071 Hit Music Now" WGMY-FM, Tallahassee, starting May 15. Maverick previously programmed Rhythmic WWVA-FM, Atlanta, and Rhythmic WBTS-FM, Atlanta ... CHR-Top40 "Z102.9" KZIA-FM, Cedar Rapids, welcomes its new night host -- Drew "Slater" Pastorek -- to play the hits after dark ... CHR-Top40 WNKS-FM, Charlotte, welcomes Michael "Breezekat" Rackoff to assist with the "Drex and Maney" morning show. Rackoff will fill in for D&M's producer Croghan, who leaves to pursue an on-air career, until a permanent replacement is found ... Mark Kopelman will oversee the launch of the Johnjay and Rich Radio Network. Kopelman, newly appointed as EVP of Partnerships for Paul B. Anderson Media Agent will work closely with Anderson and his team leading and managing the launch ... Layoffs at the Midwest Family Broadcasting Springfield, Illinois, cluster have claimed at least five staffers. Among those reported out are Talk WMAY-AM host Ray Lytle and news anchor/producer Barb Ferguson-Fees, Active Rock KQLZ-FM hosts Ryan "Bodine" Lytle and Jeff "The Dawg" Fredericks and Triple-A WLCE-FM host Joy Zettler ... CHR-Top40 "96.7 Kiss FM" KHFI-FM, Austin, names Edris "EJ" Jenkins as its new nights host, starting May 14. Jenkins started at WBLS-FM, New York City, as an intern, then moved up to board op and production assistant. before going over to Premiere Netwoks as Associate Producer Of "The Keith Sweat Hotel." Most recently, he hosted nights at "Z95.5" WFIZ-FM, Ithaca, NY.