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BROADCASTING MOVES AWAY FROM WALL STREET
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Paige Albiniak]
Since November, four of the country’s biggest station groups -- Ion, Univision, Tribune Co. and Clear Channel -- have announced plans to be acquired by private-equity firms. In February, CBS sold seven of its stations to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $185 million. And two more groups that aren't among Broadcasting & Cable’s Top 25 Station Groups -- The New York Times Co. and Bluestone Television -- are taking shelter under a private-equity umbrella. More than half of the companies on the annual B&C list changed rank. CBS fell to No. 2 (exchanging places with Fox) because of the sale of seven stations. E.W. Scripps dropped from 11th to 16th because it sold off several stations that were part of the Shop at Home network it abandoned. But on next year’s list at least eight stations will be privately held, double this year’s number. “Wall Street has walked away from broadcast investments because they don't see the growth that the industry has had over the past 20-30 years,†says Larry Patrick, president of station brokerage Patrick Communications. “Growth has slowed, but broadcasting is a tremendously high free-cash-flow business. If you are a big hedge fund or a private-equity fund and you have $10 billion-$20 billion, you have to find places to park that. A television company has 35%-40% operating margin. You can't put your money in anything else that gets that kind of return.â€
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6433752.html
See also --
* Private-Equity Firms Face Public Future
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Thomas Heath]
The co-founder of the Carlyle Group, the giant District private-equity firm that invests tens of billions of dollars on behalf of pension funds and other investors, said over the weekend that he expects most of the major firms in his industry to become public companies in the next few years. "These guys who built these private-equity firms: You can say many things about them, but one thing you can't say is they're stupid, or they are not an alpha male," said David M. Rubenstein, Carlyle's managing director. "These guys are going to be fairly forthright about getting what they think they earned for building these firms."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR200704...
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Broadcasting moves away from Wall Street
FOUR IN RUNNING FOR CLEAR CHANNEL TV
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry A. Jessell]
With the bidding past the $1 billion mark, four companies are vying for Clear Channel Television, the division of Clear Channel Communications that operates 42 TV stations in 24 small- and mid-sized markets, and a winner could be named with the next two weeks. The four bidders include Nexstar Broadcasting Group, a publicly traded broadcast group headed by Perry Sook, along with three entities backed by private equity firms that have been active in the station trading marketplace over the past year -- Kelso, Oak Hill Capitol Partners and Providence Equity. The next round of bids is due next Wednesday, and parent Clear Channel Communications is expected to pick a winner within a week of those bids.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/04/13/daily.6/
* Suitors Raise Bid for Clear Channel
The two private equity firms seeking to buy Clear Channel Communications have sweetened their offer, fearing that their initial bid may be rejected by shareholders.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/business/media/16deal.html
Four in Running for Clear Channel TV
CLEAR CHANNEL, TENNESSEE BROADCASTERS LOBBY FCC AGAINST XM/SIRIUS MERGER
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Clear Channel Communications is leading a small battalion of Tennessee area broadcasting groups against Federal Communications Commission approval of a merger between XM and Sirius satellite radio. Clear Channel says the move will give XM/Sirius an "unfair spectrum advantage." But now the radio giant has to explain why media consolidation is good for the goose but not for the gander. The company has long protested FCC rules that limit to eight the number of radio stations that it can buy in a designated market. Clear Channel, in tandem with three other groups, met with the FCC's Deborah Taylor Tate on April 6th to lobby hard against the proposed XM/Sirius union. "The broadcasters noted their concerns with the XM-Sirius merger and its adverse impact on free radio and listeners," their public filing, dated April 12th, concludes. Clear Channels' partners in this move include Whit Adamson, President, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, and radio station owners Bayard "Bud" Walters of the Cromwell Group, and Craig Jacobus, President of South Central Communications.
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/389
Clear Channel, Tennessee broadcasters lobby FCC against XM/Sirius merger
GOOGLE BUYS ONLINE AD FIRM FOR $3.1 BILLION
[SOURCE: New York Times 4/14, AUTHOR: Louise Story & Miguel Helft]
Google agreed to its largest acquisition, reaching a deal to purchase DoubleClick, the online advertising company, from two private equity firms for $3.1 billion in cash, almost double what it paid for YouTube last year. And perhaps just as important, the deal kept DoubleClick from the hands of Microsoft. For Google, the purchase is another step in its transformation from a search engine into an advertising powerhouse. DoubleClick, which is based in New York City, specializes in software for display advertising and has close relationships with Web publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/14/technology/14deal.html
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* Google's Rivals Fear DoubleClick Deal Concentrates Too Much Web-Ad Clout
Microsoft, AT&T, Time Warner and several other large Internet and media companies are hoping to encourage antitrust regulators to closely scrutinize Google's planned $3.1 billion purchase of Internet-ad-services firm DoubleClick. They said the deal would give Google a grip over the booming market for online advertising. The planned acquisition will be subject to a review by either the Justice Department or Federal Trade Commission, in accordance with standard procedure for acquisitions larger than a certain size. At issue is that Google already controls the lion's share of the market for Internet-search advertising and related contextual ads; the DoubleClick deal would make it a dominant player in the market for serving graphical ads on Web sites on behalf of the sites' publishers.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117667837084170630.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
* Microsoft Wary of DoubleClick Buyout
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR200704...
See also --
* Google Reaches Deal With Clear Channel to Sell Radio Ads
Google will begin selling advertisements across all of the stations of Clear Channel Communications, the No. 1 radio station owner in the United States, at the end of June, the companies will announce today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/technology/16radio.html
Google Buys an Online Ad Firm for $3.1 Billion
VONAGE HAS NO 'WORKAROUND' FOR VERIZON TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
Vonage has finally confirmed what many had feared: The embattled Internet phone company has no "workaround" in hand to sidestep Verizon's patented Internet phone technology. Moreover, Vonage isn't sure that such a plan is even "feasible," given the expansiveness of Verizon's patents, which set out methods for passing calls between the Web and conventional phone networks. Vonage's chilly assessment, contained in a filing submitted to a federal court Friday, marks the first time it has admitted that it doesn't have a plan for getting around Verizon's technology.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070416/vonage16.art.htm
VONAGE PATENT CASE COULD HURT PHONE COMPETITION
[SOURCE: HearUsNow.org, AUTHOR: Bob Williams]
[Commentary] The Vonage-Verizon patent suit over Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services could end in Vonage going out of business. By itself, that would be bad for all phone consumers, not just Vonage customers. Competition from new rivals such as Vonage and cable operators have forced traditional phone companies such as Verizon and AT&T to fight harder for customers, generally driving down prices and improving service. Far more troubling, however, is the possibility that Verizon might try to use similar litigation to cripple or shut down other new competitors in the phone business. Competition has clearly benefited phone consumers. It will be unfortunate if Verizon is able to use lawsuits to kill off its rivals rather than competing with them.
http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2007/04/vonage_patent_case_could...
TELCOS LIFT BLOCK ON FREECONFERENCE.COM
[SOURCE: ConsumerAffairs.Com 4/13, AUTHOR: Martin H. Bosworth]
Major telecom companies that were blocking access to the FreeConference.Com calling service have agreed to lift the restrictions, at least for now, pending a meeting between the companies supporting FreeConference.Com and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) next week. The FCC said it received more than 1,000 complaints on the issue, and asked that all call blocking to the service cease until the commission met with both sides to discuss the issue. Sprint Nextel agreed to stop blocking calls to FreeConference.Com on April 12th, joining AT&T/Cingular and Qwest, according to FreeConference.Com. Company CEO Alex Cory credited the "voice of the consumer" for drawing attention to the blockage and getting it lifted.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/free_conference.html
Telcos Lift Block On FreeConference.Com
BEST-INFORMED ALSO VIEW FAKE NEWS, STUDY SAYS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
Americans may have more news outlets today than two decades ago, but they still don't know much more about current events than they did then, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. But here’s one big difference: the survey respondents who seemed to know the most about what’s going on -- who were able to identify major public figures, for example -- were likely to be viewers of fake news programs like Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show†and “The Colbert Reportâ€; those who knew the least watched network morning news programs, Fox News or local television news. Only 69 percent of people in the latest survey could come up with Dick Cheney when asked to name the vice president; in 1989, 74 percent could name Dan Quayle. Fewer could name the governor of their state (66 percent now compared with 74 percent in 1989) and fewer could name the president of Russia (36 percent now compared with 47 percent before). In 1989, fully 81 percent of people knew that the United States had a trade deficit; today, only 68 percent knew. The survey found that education was the best predictor of who would do well on the questions. “However,†it said, “despite the fact that education levels have risen dramatically over the past 20 years, public knowledge has not increased accordingly.â€
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/business/media/16pew.html
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Best-Informed Also View Fake News, Study Says
COPPS: FCC'S POWER BROKER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A Q&A with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. With the Democrats having taken the Hill and Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell proving to be an independent-minded commissioner rather than a lock for a third vote for Chairman Kevin Martin, the power of the Democratic minority on the commission has grown. On his message to broadcasters: "I guess I would say that they are the stewards of a precious public jewel and I went there to applaud those who work hard to service the public interest by putting real resources into news and public affairs and local coverage. I understand there are challenges that exist in the media environment we all find ourselves in, but I'm also there to say that I am worried that it is becoming more and more difficult for these folks to meet those objectives we talked about in this age of media consolidation and the often unforgiving expectations of Wall Street and Madison Avenue. Their job of gathering and communicating news and public affairs is more important now than ever before, especially in this environment. That isn't just something nice for them to do, but that was the original bargain, to use the airwaves to serve the public interest. We need to make sure those principles are front and center and take broadcasters to new and even higher altitudes."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6433742.html
Copps: FCC's Power Broker
COMPETITION WON'T CURE ALL, ADVISORS TELL TOWN OFFICIALS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
Video competition is not going to solve all customer-service problems, so cities and counties still need to craft and enforce local guidelines, attorneys advising the regulators said. Those standards could be most successful if written to guide all service providers in town, not just cable operators, the attorneys advised. That would mean removing customer-service protections from franchising agreements and crafting them into municipal ordinances. The language in these documents should allow for frequent updates to reflect current working conditions.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6431716.html
Competition Won't Cure All, Advisers Tell Town Officials
THE SHY'S THE LIMIT FOR STATIONS ONLINE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Michael Malone]
Despite vast opportunity, the nation’s TV stations have largely failed to capitalize on the Internet. That’s the essential message from an exclusive B&C/Magid Media Labs “Online User Study.†On the bright side, viewership for stations’ televised news remains high (84% watch a local television newscast at least once a week). But less encouraging is that only half of the polled users access local news online at least once a month, and a mere 13% surf the Web for local news on a daily basis.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6433703.html
The Sky’s the Limit For Stations Online