Tuesday's Radio & Media News - June 25, 2013

Kantar Media: First Quarter Advertising Expenditures Were Flat Overall Radio Ad Spending Was Down 1.7% Total advertising expenditures in the first quarter of 2013 declined 0.1 percent from a year ago and finished the period at $30.2 billion, according to data released today by Kantar Media. Radio Media overall was down 1.7% -- with Local Radio -1.0%, National Spot Radio up 5.7% but Network Radio down 15.2%. "It has been a lackluster start for 2013, with flat year-over-year results due in part to strong 2012 growth caused by political and Olympic ad spending,” says Kantar Media North America Chief Research Officer Jon Swallen. "Data from the early second quarter are mixed, suggesting marketers are still being cautious and conservative with ad budgets. However, there are some bright spots, including healthy growth for Hispanic media and Outdoor." Television media turned in mixed performances. Cable TV expenditures rose 5.2 percent, aided by an increase in the volume of ad time and by stronger demand from restaurants and auto manufacturers. Spanish Language TV spending increased 13.5 percent, its seventh consecutive quarter of double digit growth – a strong result although lower than 15 percent annual growth rate seen in 2012. The Spanish Language segment continues to be driven by gains among national broadcast networks. Weaker prime time ratings contributed to a 5.2 percent decline in Network TV spending. Comparisons were also hurt by a calendar timing shift that moved ad money for NCAA Final Four games out of Q1 and into April. Apart from this anomaly, sports programming produced ad revenue gains for broadcast networks. Spot TV expenditures were down 2.4 percent, but if cyclical political advertising is excluded, the medium was roughly flat versus last year. Spending in Syndication TV declined 1.1 percent. Among print media, Consumer Magazines benefitted from higher spending by leading CPG advertisers and saw total expenditures increase 1.8 percent in the first quarter. Sunday Magazines were down 3.7 percent mainly due to cutbacks from prescription drug marketers. Local Newspaper ad spending fell 3.3 percent and National Newspapers decreased 9.2 percent, each hurt by substantial reductions from the financial services and motion picture categories. The losses in Newspaper spending were consistent with reductions in the amount of space sold. Outdoor advertising investments rose 4.3 percent, the eleventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases. Higher spending from Local Services, Retail and Restaurants were a prime catalyst. Internet display ad spend has not been included for Q1 due to measurement changes, says Kantar Media. It will return for Q2 reporting. Spending among the ten largest advertisers in the opening quarter of 2013 was $3,735.0 million, a 5.7 percent increase compared to a year ago. Among the Top 100 marketers, a diversified group accounting for roughly two-fifths of all measured ad expenditures, budgets climbed 0.5 percent. Procter & Gamble was the top-ranked advertiser with spending of $722.5 million, up 9.1 percent. P&G operates on a July-June fiscal calendar and the March quarter increase only cancels out lower spending from earlier in the fiscal year. The only other CPG company in the Top Ten rankings was L’Oreal, which spent $394.6 million on media advertising in the period, up 25.2 percent. The company raised marketing support for its L’Oreal Paris line of cosmetics and hair care products. AT&T expenditures rose 27.5 percent, to $463.5 million, the largest rate of increase among Top Ten marketers. The company directed more money to local media, supporting an ongoing market expansion of its U-Verse broadband and video service. In contrast, ad spending at rival Verizon Communications fell 4.0 percent to $295.9 million. The largest decline among the Top Ten was posted by Comcast, which reduced expenditures by 17.5 percent to $331.2 million. The cutbacks were concentrated in its movie studios, which had fewer major releases compared to the prior year. Two automotive advertisers landed in the Top Ten. Spending by Ford Motor rose 12.9 percent to $280.3 million, propelled by big marketing launches for redesigned versions of the Escape and Fusion models. Read more from Kantar Media. Federal Judge Strikes Arbitron's Renda Complaint Arbitron Has Until July 26 to Re-File Lawsuit Arbitron has until July 26 to re-file its lawsuit against Renda Broadcasting for unauthorized use of ratings data for the Jacksonville market after U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Howard ruled that the initial complaint was a "shotgun pleading" -- defined in a previous case as a complaint that “contains several counts, each one incorporating by reference the allegations of its predecessors, leading to a situation where most of the counts ... contain irrelevant factual allegations and legal conclusions." The judge has issued an order that says "the Court is faced with the onerous task of sifting out irrelevancies in order to decide for itself which facts are relevant to a particular cause of action asserted. Here, each subsequent count of the three counts in the Complaint incorporates by reference all allegations of each of the preceding counts." The complaint alleged violations of both federal copyright law and state unfair trade practices law. The federal judge's order strikes the complaint and orders Arbitron to file an amended complaint by July 26 or face dismissal. Arbitron claims Renda General Manager Bill Reese has been getting Arbitron numbers from a local ad agency friend and passing them out to members of his staff. Renda hasn't been an Arbitron subscriber since 2010. Fisher Shareholders to Vote on Sinclair Acquisition August 6 Fisher Communications shareholders are being asked to approve the proposed $373.3 million sale of the company to Sinclair Broadcast Group. Fisher has set a special shareholder meeting for August 6 at its Seattle headquarters for a vote on the deal. Fisher has just filed a proxy statement with the SEC on the pending deal with Sinclair. Fisher’s board is unanimously backing the $41 per share offer from Sinclair. Fisher shareholders will also get to vote on "golden parachute" payments to executives. They would pay CEO Colleen Brown $3.6 million in cash severance and other benefits, including stock and a prorated 2013 bonus. CFO Hassan Natha would get $807,000. EVP of Operations Robert Dunlop would receive $1.5 million. SVP/General Counsel Christopher Bellavia would be paid $1 million. The FTC has already cleared the deal, but FCC approval is still pending. Closing is expected by the end of the third quarter of 2013. Cracker's David Lowery Blasts Pandora's Royalty Payments Cracker frontman David Lowery blasts Pandora's royalty payments to musicians, not only echoing Pink Floyd's criticism, but adding more specifics based on his own experience -- and posting his royalty statements online for Cracker's biggest hit, "Low." In a blog post on The Trichordist -- "My Song Got Played On Pandora 1 Million Times and All I Got Was $16.89, Less Than What I Make From a Single T-Shirt Sale!" -- Lowery says he was paid only $16.89 for 1.159 million plays of "Low" in the previous quarter. Lowery notes that he only owns 40 percent of "Low," so the rest of the band earned the other 60 percent of the royalties from Pandora. Lowery posts more of his royalty statements, noting that SiriusXM paid him $181 in the same period -- while he made $1,522 from terrestrial radio royalties. Lowery adds, "Soon you will be hearing from Pandora how they need Congress to change the way royalties are calculated so that they can pay much much less to songwriters and performers. For you civilians webcasting rates are 'compulsory' rates. They are set by the government (crazy, right?). Further since they are compulsory royalties, artists can not 'opt out' of a service like Pandora even if they think Pandora doesn’t pay them enough. The majority of songwriters have their rates set by the government, too, in the form of the ASCAP and BMI rate courts–a single judge gets to decide the fate of songwriters (technically not a 'compulsory' but may as well be). This is already a government mandated subsidy from songwriters and artists to Silicon Valley. Pandora wants to make it even worse. (Yet another reason the government needs to get out of the business of setting webcasting rates and let the market sort it out.)" Lowery then writes, "Here’s an idea. Why doesn’t Pandora get off the couch and get an actual business model instead of asking for a handout from congress and artists? For instance: Right now Pandora plays one minute of commercials an hour on their free service. Here’s an idea! Play two minutes of commercials and double your revenue! (Sirius XM often plays 13 minutes and charges a subscription). I urge all songwriters to post their royalty statements and show the world just how terrible webcasting rates are for songwriters." GroupMNext Internet Radio Marketplace: Who Listens, Where They Listen and Why You Should Care Radio listeners who spend more than 21% of their time listening via Internet radio are twice as likely to purchase a product they heard advertised compared to those who listen more predominantly to broadcast radio. "This is just one of many insights into the Internet Radio Marketplace our Consumer Insights and Research teams touch in this white paper after conducting research in order to better understand the growth of radio, dissect how Internet and broadcast work in tandem, and examine behaviors specific to Internet radio," reports GroupMNext. "This initiative included survey of 1,000 radio listeners in the U.S., from which compelling insights emerged about usage and behaviors, including intriguing insights into the interest in an Apple streaming radio service." Among other highlights, 40% of Internet radio listeners tune in just about anywhere – at home and on the go; and, based on the Apple brand name alone, 34% of Internet radio listeners in the survey said they would switch from their favorite service to an Apple Internet streaming music service. Read more of the research here. GroupMNext is a unit of GroupM, which describes itself as "the world's number one media investment management operation." More objectively, GroupM is the world's largest advertising media company in terms of billings. Pandora Claims New In-Car 'Milestones' Pandora is claiming "new in-car milestones" that "demonstrate continued growth and momentum in the automotive category." To date, says Pandora, its streaming music service has seen more than 2.5 million unique activations through integrations from the 23 major automotive brands and eight aftermarket manufacturers with whom the company has established partnerships. Says Pandora Chief Marketing Officer Simon Fleming-Wood, "The vehicle is the traditional home of radio and thanks to our deep roster of forward-thinking automotive partners, Pandora has been seamlessly incorporated into the dash of more than 100 different vehicle models made available by our partners. We're thrilled that millions of people are enjoying Pandora through these integrations, which make listening to personalized internet radio as easy as AM/FM radio." Pandora notes that about half of all radio listening takes place in the car, and their ability to deliver the service through the native in-dash entertainment system has remained a key focus for the company since announcing its first automotive brand partnership with Ford in 2010. The company now estimates that one-third of all new cars sold in 2013 in the U.S. will have Pandora installed. Pandora also says it has made significant inroads to the automotive aftermarket sector through partnerships with eight manufacturers who have introduced more than 200 devices that feature Pandora from Alpine Electronics, Audiovox, Clarion, Dual Electronics, JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer and Sony Birmingham's '97.3 The Zone' Preparing for Format Flip A format change is coming soon at Sports Talk "97.3 The Zone" WZNN-FM, Birmingham, now owned by Summit Media which obtained the station from Cox Media Group. Summit Media COO David Dubose says, "We have been evaluating the sports format in light of multiple factors, including [Paul] Finebaum’s placement. After nearly two years, it became clear the market did not support two competing sports stations. Therefore, we have determined we should focus on other format opportunities." Reports from the market say the station will reportedly end its Sports Talk format at the end of this week. Paul Finebaum departed Cumulus WJOX-FM in January following a long legal battle in an attempt to join the then Cox-owned WZNN-FM. Finebaum ultimately passed, instead joining ESPN Radio for a new regionally syndicated show set to start later this year. Finebaum’s new show will now likely be picked up by Cumulus to air on WJOX-FM. "The Zone" launched with hopes of getting Finebaum. WZNN-FM currently airs local programming from 6am to 6pm daily and ESPN Radio at other times. The national ESPN feed also airs around the clock in Birmingham on sister WENN-AM. Georgia Tech and Atlanta's 'The Zone' End Flagship Deal Georgia Tech football and men's basketball will no longer air on Lincoln Financial Media Sports Talk "790 The Zone" WQXI-AM, Atlanta, the school and station jointly announce. The Yellow Jackets are also heard on crosstown Cumulus "All News 106.7" WYAY-FM, an arrangement which will continue. Georgia Tech's sports rights are now held by IMG College. "The Zone" deal was signed in 2001 by predecessor ISP Sports, and renewed in 2008, when WYAY-FM was added as an FM flagship. "We have had a longstanding relationship with 790 The Zone dating back to 2001," says Georgia Tech Athletic Director Mike Bobinski. "In recent years we have been fortunate to have our games and coach's shows also broadcast on a 77,000-watt FM station, giving us a powerful signal which more than covers the Atlanta metro area. We will continue to maintain a relationship with WQXI as a significant local sports talk station, but the flagship designation, by mutual agreement, will come to an end." He adds, "Through the years we have maintained an excellent relationship with the ownership and management of 790 The Zone. We appreciate their efforts on behalf of the partnership, but at this point it is in both parties' best interest to restructure our broadcast relationship. We are excited about our future with All News 106.7 as well as our developing relationship with Cumulus and other important entities in the Atlanta radio market." CNN Radio Pulls the Plug You may have thought CNN Radio already called it quits when its radio distribution deal ended last year. But, until now it had lived on as an Internet audio feed at cnnradio.cnn.com and www.cnnradio.com, and with podcasts. Now, CNN pulls the plug on what remained, announcing CNN Radio will cease producing programming content today. CNN confirms the radio shutdown to MHBC, telling us, "The company completed a review of its radio business and has made the decision to cease production of CNN Radio podcasts, effective immediately." We've learned that means pink slips for up to a dozen staffers, although "a few" may be reassigned to other sectors of the company. CNN Radio's syndication deal ended April 1, 2012 when its agreement with Dial Global expired. Dial Global had inherited the arrangement with its acquiusition of Westwood One. DG replaced CNN Radio with an NBC News radio service. Nielsen: 'Upscale Latinos - America’s New Baby Boomers' "Hispanics are steadily helping shape the landscape of America’s economy and have become a game changer for marketers. But within this broad demographic lies a powerful core segment that accounts for 37 percent of the group’s total spending power—and this spending power is increasing." According to Nielsen and the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA), this viable and sophisticated market of upscale Latinos lives in a world of cultural duality, and provides lifetime value and upside opportunities for many high-end and luxury brands. Defined as Hispanic households earning $50K-$100K in annual income, upscale Latinos are the most influential segment since the baby boomers and will drive shifts in category consideration, purchasing behavior and brand relationship. Says the Nielsen report, "In 2012, the 15 million upscale Latinos in the U.S. accounted for 29 percent of the country’s Hispanic population—and that figure is expected to double by 2050. Upscale Latinos are younger than upscale non-Hispanic Whites (33 years old compared with 39 years old) and they live active lifestyles, often with young families. In fact, 85 percent of upscale Hispanics have a household size of three or more, compared with 65 percent of upscale non-Hispanics. While upscale Hispanics reside across the country, they are mostly concentrated in urban areas such as Los Angeles, New York, Houston and Miami, although they show significant representation in secondary markets such as Honolulu and Washington, D.C. and Oklahoma City. A force behind new businesses with higher educational and professional attainment, upscale Latinos are technologically savvy and are often viewed as trendsetters among their peers. They’re more likely to use smartphones, own iPads and subscribe to one of the top four U.S. mobile providers." Read more from Nielsen. Carson Daly Set for 2013 Radio Show Will Discuss Radio, Record Label and Artist Collaboration Organizers of the Radio Show, jointly produced by the NAB and the RAB, announce that CBS Radio's Carson Daly will moderate a panel on the relationship between Radio, record labels and artists. The programmer's session will take place on Wednesday, September 18 at 10:15am at the Radio Show in Orlando. We're told that "Radio, Record Labels & Artists: Creating a Powerful Partnership" will address how radio, record labels and artists can collaborate and collectively grow their businesses. The session will offer insights and tips on how the three parties can work more effectively together and explore solutions. Panelists include Steve Bartels, president and COO of Island Def Jam Music Group, a label representing stars like Rihanna, Kanye West and Justin Bieber. The panel will also feature 33-year veteran programmer John Dimick, senior vice president, Programming and Operations, Lincoln Financial Media. Daly, of course, hosts a morning show on CBS Radio's KAMP-FM Los Angeles. Additionally, CBS recently announced the launch of two new weekly pop countdown programs hosted by Daly, beginning July 6. "The Daly Download With Carson Daly -- This Week’s Top 30" will make its debut on more than 70 CBS Radio and Cumulus stations, including outlets in 8 of the top 10 and all of the top 5 markets in the United States. In addition to his radio work, Daly serves as host and producer of "The Voice" and "Last Call with Carson Daly" on NBC Television. He began his radio career in the early 1990s, earning a highly coveted position as early evening host on Los Angeles' top-rated KROQ-FM. Additionally, he was the host of MTV’s TRL (Total Request Live), a flagship program of the music network and a must-stop for artists, movie stars and entertainers. For nine years, Daly has executive produced "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly." Federal News Radio Unveils New Logo Washington DC's "Federal News Radio 1500" WFED-AM and FederalNewsRadio.com today introduced new brand imaging in the form of a logo that celebrates Federal News Radio as a multimedia source of federal news and information. Over the years, the station has migrated from delivering federal news solely on the internet to broadcasting on 1050 AM to now 1500 AM, the former home of sister station WTOP, and a full market FM signal. Since 2006 and the creation of the original logo, Federal News Radio has continued to emerge into a multi-platform resource for federal news and information that includes FederalNewsRadio.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. The new logo publicly rebrands the station and places more emphasis on its digital assets. "I'm very happy with our new logo," says Federal News Radio Program Director Lisa Wolfe. "It gives appropriate recognition to our two major distribution platforms and streamlines our public-facing image. Our new branding more accurately reflects the multimedia news organization we always have been." And Federal News Radio General Manager Joel Oxley tells us, "Our previous logo put too much emphasis on our dial position and did not celebrate the success of our online publication. Our listeners and readers tell us our website is just as critical to their daily work and understanding trends as our on-air interviews." Providence's WPRO-AM Hosting Immigration Debate Cumulus "News Talk 630 and 99.7" WPRO-AM/WEAN-FM, Providence, hosts its second "Debate Series" event, June 26 from 12-1pm, "Green Light on Green Cards." Focusing on the illegal immigration issue, it will be moderated by WPRO's Tara Granahan. The second event of the year-long "Debate Series" focusing on important local issues will stream live on the station's website -- 630wpro.com -- and then be featured in a WPRO Special Report scheduled to air during the WPRO Morning News with Gene Valicenti the week of July 1. The panel of Rhode Island experts to discuss illegal immigration issues in Rhode Island includes Roberto Gonzalez, David Borts, Terry Gorman, State Rep. Peter Palumbo and Rev. Don Anderson. Behind the Microphone: The Ins and Outs of Radio Radio One Philadelphia tells us that veteran host Lady B returns to "Old School 100.3" WPHI-FM, Philadelphia, for 2-7pm starting July 1. Lady B has been the ambassador of the station traveling the tri-state on an "Old School 100.3 Tour" since April 1, when the station first began registering listeners to win $1000 ... Coastal Broadcasting Alternative WJSE-FM, in the Cape May County section of the Atlantic City NJ market, Program Director Jim Maschio adds PD for sister Hot AC "98.7 The Coast" WCZT-FM. Mark Hunter shifts from PD to Music Director at "The Coast" ... Contemporary Christian "Star 93.3" WAKW-FM, Cincinnati, names Jeff Evans as Program Director, effective August 1. Evans currently is Operations Manager at the Townsquare Media cluster in Tyler-Longview, Texas, where he's spent some 20 years ... Jennifer Brien is named overnight host at CBS Radio's News Talk WBZ-AM, Boston, replacing Steve LeVeille who retired last year. Brien joined WBZ-AM from WRKO-AM where she hosted "The Jennifer Brien Show" ... Rhythmic CHR KZFM-FM, Corpus Christi, ups weekender Tiffany to its vacant 6-10pm weekday show.