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Forecaster cuts radio’s outlook.
For the past several months, media economists and analysts have been revising their advertising forecasts, each time predicting stronger growth for radio. But perhaps they’ve oversold how quick the pace of recovery will be. Barclays Capital is forecasting radio revenue will grow this year by 6.8% instead of the previously-predicted 7.4%. While just a fractional shift, it translates into tens of millions of fewer revenue dollars.
Cumulus confirms recovery slows, briefly.
Market managers and salespeople have been saying it for weeks. It now appears their concerns about a somewhat softer July aren’t simply post-recession paranoia. Entercom executives earlier this week said June and July “fizzled a bit.” Now Cumulus says its preliminary numbers show July will close up just 2%. But CEO Lew Dickey says August and September look stronger.
Beasley’s Q2: Up 7%.
Beasley reports a $1.3 million second quarter revenue increase at its Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Ft. Myers-Naples clusters. Revenue was flat, on average, across Beasley’s other eight clusters. "The radio industry and Beasley are continuing to see a rebound in advertising spending,” CEO George Beasley says. Beasley’s same-station revenue was up 7%, which was the company's best comparison since late 2007.
Nielsen’s Q2: Up 7%.
Nielsen reports second quarter revenue grew 7% over a year ago. The company’s division that includes media measurement activities such as its radio ratings service also grew 7% primarily from gains in TV and online businesses. “We had a very solid second quarter,” CFO Brian West says. Nielsen has registered with the SEC to go public and is in a “quiet period” so executives weren’t able to say much about future plans.
CBS syndicates “Dr. Knowledge.”
Weekend overnight personality Charles Reichblum is expending his reach beyond “News Radio 1020” KDKA, Pittsburgh. CBS News Radio is syndicating a 60-second "Knowledge in a Nutshell Minute” to about 30 markets. Drawing on his encyclopedic collection of facts and information, Reichblum will discuss topics ranging from history and politics to sports. MORE
People Moves this Week
An Indianapolis air personality makes the jump to sales. A broadcast software company hires a new chief technology officer. And a new general manager in Wisconsin. Read all this week’s People Moves HERE.
Sloan fills WLW slot.
Clear Channel news/talk “The Big One” WLW, Cincinnati (700) names station personality Scott Sloan as the permanent host of the late-morning (9am-12 noon) timeslot vacated by Mike McConnell, who jumped to Tribune’s WGN, Chicago last month. WLW also announces morning host Jim Scott has signed a new contract with the station.
Univision pays a price.
It was another quarter without ratings to arm the sales team and that continued to cost Univision Radio. Second quarter revenue declined 6% compared to a year ago. That’s worse than the 3% drop in first quarter. Univision’s PPM protest ended and it began encoding its signals for Arbitron’s PPM in April. But it isn’t a subscriber. That’s made it tougher on salespeople to not only sell spots, but get the price they’d like.
Study: AC P1s more ad tolerant.
The female P1 listeners of adult contemporary radio are twice as likely to listen to a stop set than a CHR station’s P1s. That’s one of the findings of Alan Burns and Associates study into the habits of female AC and CHR listeners. With an upper demo female audience, AC listeners are among the most sought-after by advertisers.
For AC radio, cash is king.
A new Alan Burns and Associates study into female listeners of AC radio shows a bias toward greenbacks. More women would rather win $1,000 in cash than a new car worth significantly more. While 51% of women said they’d tune-in at a specific time for a shot at winning $100, the number who’d do that for an iPad dropped to 45% -- even though an iPad retails for $500 and up.
Univision: “rogue employees” to blame.
Univision CFO Andy Hobson says the company is happy it has reached a settlement with the Justice Department and FCC over alleged pay-to-play violations. But he also notes it was far from a company-sanctioned policy.
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