9-17-13
On Monday Pandora announced plans for a second public offering, this one of 10 Million shares of common stock. An additional 4 Million shares will be offered by the selling stockholder. The company also intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.1 Million shares to cover over-allotments, if there are any. Pandora says it will use the money from the offering for "general corporate purposes, including working capital and capital expenditures."
7-16-13
Tuesday morning, syndicated radio host Tom Joyner offered Rachel Jeantel a full ride to college. Jeantell was on the phone with Trayvon Martin the night he was killed. She took the witness stand during the trial and was interviewed on CNN this week. Joyner was moved to help. "Rachel, here's my offer to you. If you want to graduate from high school and go to an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) -- even if it's not in Florida but especially Florida -- if you want to do that, I want to help you do that."
(7/17/2013 8:37:43 AM)
I think that Tom Joyner is writing the check. I think that with this woman's new found fame, she may not safely be embraced at a majority white university. I think that you don't know anything about HBCUs or black people. I also think that your comment was so inflammatory that you didn't have the guts to use your real name.
(7/17/2013 7:08:54 AM)
Only Historically Black Universities? Why is that? Is there a problem with schools that were not specifically black? Is this racist? I wonder if there were such a term white people would use...I believe there would be quite an outrage. Just wondering. What do you think?
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4-11-13
Now that I could move forward with some confidence as it related to financing, I prepared to make an offer. I looked around to see what was available. I was in a midsize town in mid Missouri with a home I loved, and a husband and five children that I promised not to raise in the traditional transient lifestyle. What would be really ideal is if we could find something close that would work.
The radio landscape in Columbia, MO consists of two large clusters and a few stand-alones in the rural area outside of Columbia. Cumulus Broadcasting has several stations in the market as did my former employer, Zimmer Radio Group. There wasn?t many to pick from but there was one that I favored as a likely candidate for the first station under the Ruckus Radio banner.
I remember like it was yesterday?cooking dinner with my husband and looking at him across the bar in our kitchen. I remember saying, ?You know what station I would really like? I would like to own KXYZ.? (Station name withheld to protect the innocent.) The challenge was it wasn?t technically for sale.
Again, I pursued this as if it were the biggest client of all time. As I tell my associates while training, there?s no such thing as a bad ask. All they could do was say no, but I certainly didn?t have the right to say no for them. With that in my mind, I emailed the ownership team and asked them to meet with me for coffee.
During the course of our meeting, we discovered that we were like-minded. We really valued small town, locally owned businesses and likewise radio. We had chemistry personally and thoroughly enjoyed our time getting to know each other. However, the owners were quick to point out that the station wasn?t for sale. I asked them, ?Just suppose it was. What would you want for it and under what conditions?? I gathered information on what their long term plans were, what they wanted to accomplish and what a good deal would look like to them. At the end of our meeting, we agreed to stay in touch.
After mulling it over for a month or so, putting pen to paper and discussing it with my personal board of directors, I decided to make an official offer. I asked the owners to meet with me again, and this time?I came armed with a letter of intent that addressed all of their objectives.
The offer was met with interest?a good amount of interest. After all, as a newbie and the opportunity to be located here at home, I was willing to pay more for the station than it was worth today. There was a great deal of upside to it, but it would require a year?s worth of hard work on my part to get there.
What started as a move because there wasn?t anything to lose soon became a real offer on a real purchase met with real interest. They promised to get back with me soon after their attorney and accountant looked at it, but at first glance?it looked good to them.
The next part was the worst. The waiting. And more waiting. And more waiting. Whoever knows me personally knows that this was akin to torture for me. I like to move and move now. In the end, we ended up waiting over a month just to find out whether they were willing to accept the offer or not. Apparently, people get sick in the winter and like to take vacations.
I kept myself busy by preparing the chess pieces in the event that my gut was right and this deal would move forward. I interviewed traffic companies, production companies, national rep firms, made plans for a studio build out, new imaging for the station, sales plans, etc. When this happened, I wanted to be ready to hit the ground running. I would wait for now, but when the gun sounded?I wanted to be ready to go!
Little did I know that there might be much more needed than a willing bank, a willing buyer and a willing seller to make the slipper fit Cinderella. I would soon find out what a roller coaster ride the purchase process could be?as well as whether or not I would end up with a station when the ride came to an end.
Stay with me next week as I tell you what happened at the end of the month long wait.
Have any advice for Erica? You can reach her at erica@theruckusgroup.com
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2-21-2013
NASCAR fans now listen to the Motor Racing Network on TuneIn. MRN President and Executive Producer David Hyatt said, ?By offering MRN?s racing coverage on TuneIn, we?re able to connect our passionate NASCAR fans to the racing moments that mean the most to them, when they?re away from their local MRN station?s coverage area. In TuneIn, we see a partner that can provide an excellent listening experience for the sport?s growing fan base.?
The most fascinating aspect of the radio pioneers featured in the new book, "Mobilized Marketing: Driving Sales, Engagement and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices," is that they moved their businesses forward by acting upon their belief in the marriage of mobile and radio.Clear Channel's Eileen Woodbury (Los Angeles), Kris Foley (Cleveland), and Gus Swanson (Seattle), as well as Hearst's Hugues Jean (Baltimore) and Julia Atherton (The Tom Joyner Show), are among those interviewed in the book. Written by Jeff Hasen, Hipcricket's chief marketing officer, "Mobilized Marketing" shares insights into campaigns and initiatives that drove additional time spent listening and sales.Hugues Jean, who is his station's general sales manager, tells of the time during the recession when a car dealer added a mobile component to a radio buy and sold 34 automobiles in one day ? after not selling one for more than a month. Here's how it worked?Listeners could enter a chance to buy a car for $99. Each person who responded to the radio prompt received the what, where, and how information, then were reminded via mobile message about the event taking place on a Saturday.About 300 showed up to the Fox Chevrolet dealership. While there, 34 who didn't win the $99 automobile drawing purchased a car at full price.Kris Foley speaks frankly about the need to establish success in Cleveland, and then use those case studies to win more business. She certainly did that by adding about $1 million in additional revenue by including a mobile component to radio buys.Eileen Woodbury was a master at engaging the Los Angeles "tribe," and giving listeners options on interacting with her station."People will communicate with you the way they want to communicate," says Woodbury. "So texting isn't replacing the Web. The Web didn't replace the phone call. People who want to call will want to call. People who never called us before, hopefully will engage with us through text. Some people prefer Twitter or are on Facebook all day. She adds, "This is the age of choice. People communicate the way they want to. With every new thing that comes along, we're adding to our arsenal."Julia Atherton used mobile to help bridge the distance between Tom Joyner and his listeners. They succeeded in making radio truly interactive.Gus Swanson was Hipcricket's first client (I'm proud to say that he remains with us today), understanding, in even the earliest days of mobile, that his listeners were using this new means to communicate and he needed to get on that train, too.Each of these radio superstars was generous with their time and their thoughts. There are great lessons that we can learn from each of them, as well as the other two dozen-plus marketers that Jeff spoke to for "Mobilized Marketing."I encourage you to give the book a read.Ivan Braiker is the president of Hipcricket+Augme Technologies, Inc and can be reached at 425.202.0833 or ivan@hipcricket.com
4-16-2012
iBiquity says Chevrolet, GMC and Buick will be the first American automotive brands to offer the HD Radio "Artist Experience" feature standard on the new Traverse, Acadia and Enclave crossover utility vehicles. "Our customers are becoming increasingly familiar with the advantages of HD Radio Technology," said Kathleen McMahon, engineering program manager for Chevrolet, Buick and GMC infotainment solutions. "It makes AM radio sound as sharp as an FM broadcast and it takes FM programming to a level of clarity we've never heard before.
HD Radio broadcasts also introduces fans to multiple formats and new music not offered by traditional radio stations. For music fans, HD Radio Technology is a must." Jeff Jury, Chief Operating Officer of iBiquity Digital said, "It's an exciting time for us with General Motors launching HD Radio Technology with our latest features like iTunes Tagging and Artist Experience. We believe that digital radio, with new visual and interactive capabilities, is an integral feature in the digital dashboard. And, GM is leading the standardization of these features in vehicles."
HD Radio Technology is available nationwide, with more than 2,100 digital stations on-air, and over 1,350 HD2/HD3 digital only channels that broadcast fresh new content that can only be heard with an HD Radio receiver. HD Radio Technology will be standard on the 2013 Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave later this year.
(4/16/2012 6:25:48 AM)
"Insignia: A Glimpse of Artist Experience"
"Finding an HD Radio station that is transmitting the Artist Experience is rather difficult. Since then I have found a few more stations transmitting album art, but the number of stations encoding it appears limited, the adoption rate among broadcasters extremely slow. Further, your local HD Radio station may be airing Artist Experience images, but you may not notice them immediately. That’s because, according to iBiquity, the album art is only sent once or twice shortly before the next song starts. So, if you tune to a radio station in the middle of the song, you will not see any album art. You will get the Title/Artist/Album text display, but no image until the next song. If the receiver has any data errors during the limited time when the image is being transmitted, the image will not display. In my opinion, this is a big problem."
http://www.radioworld.com/article/insignia-a-glimpse-of-artist-experience/211187
Automakers, have you ever tested HD Radio?
Volkswagen and iBiquity Digital have announced that Volkswagen is the first automaker to offer the new HD Radio Technology feature, Artist Experience. Beginning with the 2012 model year, select Volkswagen vehicles will offer HD Radio Technology with Artist Experience on the Premium VIII radio. Artist Experience enables the Premium VIII radio to display album art and other images broadcast from HD Radio stations on its screen.
19 automotive brands have announced that HD Radio Technology is or will be available as a factory installed feature including Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, MINI USA, Rolls-Royce, Scion, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
Lexus has announced they will be offering HD Radio Technology with the iTunes? Tagging in its 2013 GS 350 model. The vehicle along with HD Radio Technology made its debut during the Pebble Beach Concours d?Elegance event. This is the 1st vehicle from Lexus to announce that it will launch HD Radio Technology. With Lexus, HD Radio Technology is or will be available as a factory installed feature from 19 automotive brands including Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, MINI USA, Rolls-Royce, Scion, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
Clear Channel said yesterday it plans to offer $750 million in notes to "qualified institutional buyers." Of the anticipated proceeds from the notes, CCU intends to use $250 million to repay at maturity a portion of CCU?s 5% legacy notes which mature in March 2012. The remaining $500 million will be used for general corporate purposes (to replenish cash on hand that CCU previously used to pay legacy notes at maturity on March 15, 2011 and May 15, 2011).
The $500 million of proceeds available for general corporate purposes may be used to repay indebtedness, including repaying indebtedness outstanding under CCU?s revolving credit facilities. In addition, such proceeds may be used in connection with one or more future transactions involving a permanent repayment of a portion of CCU?s senior secured credit facilities as part of CCU?s long-term efforts to optimize its capital structure. CCU intends to use cash on hand to pay fees and expenses in connection with the offering.
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