One by one they came into the Memphis office in 1955, each thinking they were competing for a token womanís spot on a new radio station. They ended up being the first all-female staff of a radio station.
When WHER-AM 1430 went on the air in Memphis 44 years ago this week, the call letters werenít incidental: the station was staffed entirely by female deejays, reporters, sales and promotion staff.
They read the news, did the interviewing and reporting, sold and created commercials, produced and directed programming and sat at the stationís control boards. Their motto was "1,000 Beautiful Watts," and when celebrities came through Memphis they always stopped by the "doll den."
ABC has ordered the producers of its prime-time TV programs to trim their shows by at least 30 seconds per episode. The order will immediately create more advertising space and should give ABC's corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company, an additional $50 million.
Walt Disney's chief executive, Michael Eisner, has made it clear he wants to squeeze more money from his $19 billion, third-place TV network, which is struggling to make a profit this year... Meanwhile, Mr. Eisner has had to sit on the sidelines and watch the merger of CBS and Viacom. This new mega-company, which includes its own theme parks and movie and television production units, is a new corporate rival for Disney.
For ABC's '99-'00 prime-time season, the running time of sitcoms will be shortened from 22 minutes to 21 or even lower, ABC producers said.
Marshall Herskovitz, the co-creator of Thirtysomething, whose Once and Again debuts on ABC this fall, was not pleased with the time-shaving edict. "I think, unfortunately, it fits into the context of the corporate theory of the late 20th century, which is to bow to the immediate needs of stockholders to the detriment of the long-term health of the corporation," Mr. Herskovitz said. "Eventually, they're going to scare away audiences. They're competing with cable shows, some of whom don't have any commercials. When an audience has to wait three, four or even five minutes before the program comes back, there's likely to be erosion."
Radio One, Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of radio station WCAV-FM, licensed to Brockton, Massachusetts, from KJI Broadcasting, LLC, for approximately $10 million. Radio One, founded in 1980, is the nation's largest radio broadcasting company primarily targeting African-American listeners. Pro forma for the completion of all announced acquisitions, the Company owns 26 radio stations, 25 of which are located in nine of the top-20 African-American markets in the United States.
Cumulus Media Inc., the Milwaukee-based radio broadcasting group, announced the closing of two acquisitions involving 11 radio stations in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Lexington, Kentucky. The total purchase price was $59.3 million. Assuming the completion of all pending acquisitions, Cumulus Media will own and operate 261 radio stations in 48 U.S. media markets.
The FCC voted recently to relax cable television ownership limits slightly, but the new rules are still seen as likely to force AT&T Corp. to pare back its acquisition of MediaOne Group Inc.
AT&T did appear to gain some useful concessions, including an FCC decision that a cable company shouldn't have to count under the ownership limits any partnerships where it is not involved in decisions about programming.
No. 2 cable operator AT&T has lobbied the FCC to unwind the limits so it can acquire No. 3 operator MediaOne and overtake Time Warner Inc. as the biggest cable television provider.
Under current rules, also under challenge in court, no company may have access to more than 30 percent of the U.S. homes capable of being hooked up to cable, often referred to as cable homes passed.
At a public meeting, the FCC voted to keep a 30 percent limit but said it should apply to actual cable subscribers, and expanded that subscriber base by adding satellite television customers. That would work out to 30 percent of about 80 million cable and satellite subscribers, or a 24 million limit for a single company.
The FCC voted to retain the rules that count subscribers coming from ventures that involve a five percent or greater voting stake.
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. and AMFM Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement (to the combined tune of approx. $56 billion) to create the world's largest out-of-home media entity. After anticipated divestitures required to gain regulatory approval, the combined company will have operations in 32 countries including approximately 830 radio stations and more than 425,000 outdoor displays as well as 19 television stations and significant equity interests in other leading radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising entities.
Pursuant to the Telecom Act of 1996 and other regulatory guidelines, it is expected that collectively Clear Channel and AMFM may divest approximately 125 radio stations to secure regulatory approval for the merger. The station sales resulting from the merger should serve the public interest by increasing the diversity and ownership of radio broadcasting properties.