Collected and Edited by Rick Kaempfer
Highlights and links to the big stories in the news this week about the media. This column appears twice a week at MEDIA NOTEBOOK
Clear Channel Buyout Deal Done: At $36 a share
(Radio Ink) Clear Channel Communications' board of directors has voted unanimously to approve an amended merger agreement that puts a new price of $36 a share -- down from $39.20 -- on the long-running buyout of Clear Channel by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. The deal is now valued at about $17.9 billion. Clear Channel, TH Lee, and Bain came to the agreement with the six banks that earlier agreed to fund the transaction -- Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Wachovia -- and the litigation over the deal in both Texas and New York has been settled.
VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly has a hissy fit
VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly addresses the hissy fit on his current show
(You have to sit through a few minutes of his usual fake outrage about the liberals that are destroying this country first)
Bill O'Reilly's cosmic sister
ABC-TV will only have 2 new shows in fall
(Associated Press) ABC will introduce only two new series in the fall, one of them scripted, in a schedule the network admits was severely affected by the 100-day TV writers strike. The new David E. Kelley-produced drama, "Life on Mars," is about a police detective transported back to 1973. ABC gave it a plum Thursday time slot following "Grey's Anatomy." The second new series, "Opportunity Knocks," is a game where producers show up at a home with a truckload of prizes and quiz family members on what they know about each other.
CLICK HERENew sites make it easier to spy on your friends
(Wall Street Journal) Vauhini Vaura writes: "If you are still relying on Google to snoop on your friends, you are behind the curve. Armed with new and established Web sites, people are uncovering surprising details about colleagues, lovers and strangers that often don't turn up in a simple Internet search. Though none of these sites can reveal anything that isn't already available publicly, they can make it much easier to find. And most of them are free. Zaba Inc.'s ZabaSearch.com turns up public records such as criminal history and birthdates. Spock Networks Inc.'s Spock.com and Wink Technologies Inc.'s Wink.com are "people-search engines" that specialize in digging up personal pages, such as social-networking profiles, buried deep in the Web. Spokeo.com is a search site operated by Spokeo Inc., a startup that lets users see what their friends are doing on other Web sites. Zillow Inc.'s Zillow.com estimates the value of people's homes, while the Huffington Post's Fundrace feature tracks their campaign donations. Jigsaw Data Corp.'s Jigsaw.com, meanwhile, lets people share details with each other from business cards they've collected -- a sort of gray market for Rolodex data."
Is Jay Leno really out at NBC?
(New York Times) Bill Carter writes: "After a news conference on Monday introducing Jimmy Fallon as the next host of the 12:35 a.m. “Late Night” series, Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, acknowledged that the changing late-night landscape at the network would probably mean that Jay Leno would leave it. Asked about the prospect that NBC would be able to keep Mr. Leno after his contract expires in January 2010, with Conan O’Brien having taken over his spot on the “Tonight” show, Mr. Silverman said NBC was going to do everything it could to find something that would induce Mr. Leno to stay but that it was unlikely that it would succeed. “I think it’s a reach,” Mr. Silverman said."
CLICK HERE
Disney to create lab to test ads
(Associated Press) Will people remember three-second video ads on their mobile phones? Do high-definition commercials on big screens get people's hearts racing more than other pitches? Is the sports ticker crawl distracting or does it add value to the 30-second TV spot? A laboratory in Austin, Texas, to be founded by The Walt Disney Co. by the end of the year aims to answer these questions and more by testing the biometric reactions of a pool of up to 4,000 people to advertising that takes advantage of the latest technology. In a controlled living room setting, scientists will measure heart rate and skin conductivity and track the gaze of participants who are exposed to new ad models over the Internet, mobile devices and TV screens.
(Rick's note: Now if they would only have this kind of interest in their own product...)
An interview with Ron Britain(Chicago Radio Spotlight) Last weekend I spoke with radio legend Ron Britain. Ron talks about his days at WCFL in the 1960s, including spending time with the biggest rock and roll stars in history. He also talks about two of the most entertaining resignations in radio history. Coming this weekend: An interview with Nude Hippo co-host and Melissa Forman producer (WLIT) Tony Lossano.
CNN Reporter narrowly escapes capture in Burma
(AP via USA Today) A CNN reporter who left Burma Friday was chased by authorities as he reported on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis but escaped primarily because of the incompetence of the people after him. Dan Rivers hid under a blanket at one police checkpoint and casually covered up his name on a passport to avoid detection another time. He may ultimately have gotten out of the country due to a stewardess' impatience. "I was amazed at the lengths they apparently went just to catch me," Rivers told The Associated Press by telephone from Thailand on Saturday. Rivers' story illustrates the preoccupation of Burma's military government with things other than helping the country recover from a storm that killed thousands and left many survivors homeless. Aid groups have reported difficulties in getting badly needed supplies and relief workers into the secretive country.
CLICK HEREBig Media Slams Proposal to Roll-Back Media Ownership Rules
(ars technica) Rarely has one Federal Communications Commission filing provoked as much ire as this. Thirteen major broadcast and newspaper groups have filed lengthy denunciations of a public interest group's appeal to redo the FCC's recent relaxation of its TV station/newspaper cross-ownership ban. Their comments once again expose the enormous divide between public opinion and big media on this issue. "The Commission should deny the petition," insists CBS. "CBS has submitted hundreds upon hundreds of pages of comments, facts, and studies in this proceeding, all with the goal of demonstrating that the FCC's broadcast ownership scheme is woefully and perilously out of sync with the realities of today's media marketplace. To that end, we have urged the Commission to deregulate all of its media ownership rules."
(Rick's note: Hey big media companies, guess what? You have no one to blame for this but yourselves. Today's media marketplace is woefully and perilously out of synch with it's obligations. Your fault. Deal with it and pay the piper.)
The best writer on radio today: Jerry Del Colliano
(Inside Music Media) Jerry was the founder of Inside Radio and really knows what he's talking about when he writes about radio. He's not involved in the industry at all right now, so he is free to write what he really believes without worrying about upsetting media honchos or advertisers. These two columns are excellent reading if you want to know what is wrong with radio and why. The first one is a blistering attack on Citadel's Farid Suleman--an article that has been blocked on all Citadel computers by the way. The second one is a tribute to Jimmy deCastro. Great stuff, and I agree with every word.
Farid Einstein: Half is More
Radio One Dollar
CLICK HERE
Cablevision announces deal to buy Newsday
(Newsday) Mark Harrington writes: "Cablevision Systems Corp. announced Monday morning an agreement to acquire Newsday from Tribune Co. in a $650-million deal that would create a regional news and advertising giant with a powerful grip on Long Island. Under the deal, Cablevision would own about 97 percent while Tribune would retain about 3 percent and ownership of real estate assets. 'Newsday is one of the great names in the history of American journalism, and it is both an honor and privilege to return Newsday back to Long Island-based ownership after nearly 40 years,' said Charles Dolan, Cablevision's founder and chairman. 'We admire Newsday's strong editorial voice and reputation for quality as well as its leadership in print and online journalism. We are committed to maintaining Newsday's journalistic integrity and important position in the marketplace.'"
