Idaho Radio News Etc.

At Journal Communications’ annual meeting earlier this month, CEO Steven Smith told a crowd that there is no plan to take the newspaper/TV/radio conglomerate private. Smith bought back nearly 20 million shares, leading to the speculation, according to the Associated Press.

The AP’s wording does seem to leave the door open a crack, however:

…Smith told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Milwaukee that talk of the company going private is only speculation and the board has no immediate plans to do so.

Company-wide, the Journal Broadcast Group has been trimming staff in the radio and TV division by about 5%. The cuts began last fall, according to Inside Radio – citing CEO Doug Kiel. The cuts will save $3 million per year – and also include a hiring slowdown.

Journal Communications’ first quarter income fell a whopping 91%. While that headline screams “what the…” it really isn’t that bad. JC had net income of $73.3 million in the first quarter last year, and just $6.7 million this year – but the company benefited from a sale of assets in the period in 2007.

The decline was within analysts’ expectations. The breakout:

• Publishing revenue dropped 6.7%
• Broadcasting revenue fell 4.6%
• Radio fell dropped 6.8%
• TV went down 3.4%

JC did not make any notation of how the Boise operations fared.

Media stocks are getting killed lately — especially stocks of companies that are tied to newspapers.

Journal Broadcast Group is no exception — with its stock trading very near its 52-week low of $6.37/share. The stock traded as high as $14 last year.

But… they aren’t alone. Citadel Communications is seeing a similar pattern – with a high of $10, now trading at less than $2. Talk about two buck chuck

Have a non-compete clause in your employment agreement? That’s the language common in media contracts that says you can’t work for the competition for a set period if you quit, or are terminated for cause. It’s used to help pin down “stars” and other talent — but can also extend down the food chain. Now the Idaho House and Senate have passed legislation that would shore up those rules. Seems Idaho courts have been reluctant to enforce the non-competes. There’s been several cases of folks being held off the air while the agreements tick away (Steve & Steph’s four month furlough between KZMG and KCIX in the late 90s — and I believe Mike & Kate sat out a while when the made the same move), but in general most attorneys would tell you they weren’t easy to enforce.

If Gov. Butch signs it — it’s a done deal. Details here.

(Disclosure: I have a non-compete clause in my employment contract)

Hey Peak and GAP folks — still got Clear Channel stock? The Wall Street Journal reports the deal to take the company private is about to collapse. This, of course has no effect on the Idaho markets since those deals to sell were separate — but it looks like the $19 billion deal with Providence Equity Partners will collapse under its own weight. Now both CC’s radio and outdoor divisions are starting to plunge – and the stock price is starting to tank on reports the deal will fall apart.

Boise was the largest market Clear Channel sold — and it looks like folks here in Idaho got off the Titanic just in time…

Citadel Communications came out with a pretty gloomy fourth quarter revenue result last week — and now the company is already making some cuts — according to FMQB.

“The time for talk is over, and it’s time for the walk,” CEO Farid Suleman saidl. “We have our work cut out in a lot of markets.”

R&R is reporting a number of cutbacks in top Citadel markets – including New York, Chicago and LA.

Locally, Citadel owns KKGL, KBOI, KZMG, KQFC and KIZN.

Update: And KTIK, too.

Gap Broadcasting II now owns the former Clear Channel Communications clusters in Twin Falls and Idaho Falls – the culmination of a $74 million deal that also included a rash of small market stations in several states.

Journal Communications, parent company of Journal Broadcast Group saw profit fall more than 59% in the fourth quarter – well below analyst expectation.

For the period ended Dec. 30, net income slid to $9.5 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $23.4 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.

A big chunk of the loss came from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The storm may not be over:

The company cautioned that first-quarter publishing revenue will decline due to classified advertising difficulties, partially offset by strong online, commercial printing and commercial distribution performances. Radio and television revenue is expected to fall slightly during the quarter.

The stock is getting pounded on Wall Street today. Here’s a live quote:

In Idaho, Journal owns KTHI, KRVB, KJOT, KQXR, KGEM, KCID, KIVI-TV and KSAW-TV.

Here’s an interesting item from the now-departed Clear Channel Communications: the company plans to take its national ad sales in house. Instead of using a third-party firm to aggregate buys from national advertisers, the company plans to beef up its “marketing services” staff – by a stunning 50% – to cut out the middle man. Katz Media Group currently reps Clear Channel – but will lose the client.

And yes, Clear Channel is still a public company. CC is waiting for the Department of Justice to approve its plan to go private. CC shed the Boise market from its portfolio last March – and let the Twin Falls and IF/Poky clusters last fall.

The announcement is set for this Wednesday 9 a.m. MST. You can listen in on the conference call with investors right over here.

Journal Communications saw November revenue fall by 13.4%, the Associated Press reports – a drop of 13.4%.

The biggest percentage drop wasn’t in the newspaper segment – but the TV business. Since last year was filled with political revenue and this year wasn’t – TV helped drive the company down. TV fell 26.3%, radio revenue dropped 9.6% and the newspaper group fell 5.6%. However, because Journal sees more cash-flow from the newspaper side of the ledger than it does from the JBG side, the newspaper group saw the largest actual (not percentage) drop.