Green shoots for fisher radio?

Fisher radio (KOMO, KVI, KPLZ) is looking better despite a 3rd quarter report that contains this dreary bullet point:

Radio revenue decreased 49% in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of 2008. Excluding the financial impact of the Seattle Mariners broadcast contract in 2008, radio revenue declined 21% over the same period.

But, that’s bad news/good news: those Mariners had cost them an inflated $10 million a season. Now that they're gone, (to KIRO who paid paid just $5.5 million) cash flow on the radio side is in the black to the tune of $1.2 million- last year it was negative $237,000.

The PPMs have been good to mostly news KOMO1000, and hot AC KPLZ. (

So things are looking up in thie 3rd quarter even though teevee revenues are down 8%, the fire in their parking garage last summer cost them a lot of out of pocket, and they’re stuck with five losing stations in Great Falls, Montana.

They’ve got great "new media" plans:

The Company began aggressively implementing its "broadcast to broadband initiative." Fisher launched a network of 44 hyperlocal neighborhood Web sites in the Seattle market, increasing local content offerings, including KOMO-TV's valuable content, and expanding advertising opportunities for local businesses.

They better get on with their aggressive implementation: that new media is going to be old hat- other groups (seattlepi.com, king5.com) are already well on their way with the so-called “hyperlocal.”

Comments

[RobP]

I think the BIGGER Fisher news is that the 'Taters were actually promoting Ron & Don's Space Needle thingie for Officer Brenton yesterday.

A generous gesture on their part but I bet Dennis Kelly was seething over it...

[BenSeattle]

I find the first post in this thread doubly baffling: because I don't know who the cross-promoting " 'Taters" are and I have no idea who the seething Dennis Kelly might be.

Clarification?

[AuthenticAndrew]

taters = "the commentators, ken sham and john charlatan"

Dennis Kelly is the PD of the komo homos.

[yeehah]

"taters = "the commentators, ken sham and john charlatan"

Dennis Kelly is the PD of the komo homos."

'authentic andrew'. Immature brat, totally lacking credibility. At home here, where most can ignore him as he shows his age and lack of relevance.

[chucks]

Be nice to Andrew. He makes a wicked order of onion rings and has french fries down to a science.

[AuthenticAndrew]

I don't work in the food service industry.

[AuthenticAndrew]

yeehah, you're not bringing anything of relevance to this discussion. Please try to contribute in the future.

[Unionless]

BREAKING! (sort of) KOMO is reporting that they may have found the killer of that police officer (currently shot and in Harborview)
What da ya think AuthenticAHole, will futher revelations show that it is a neighbor in the area of the fallen radio towers. Let's hold our breath and see.

[sparky]

You seem almost giddy at the thought, union. Rather odd.

[AuthenticAndrew]

I seem to make the conservatives here unstable.

All for the cause.

[John DeRosa]

The KOMO blogs are Failboats. Zzzzzzzzzzz all the way.

[joanie]

Randi's rocking tonight. Mike has been on fire lately. Gonna be good radio for the trip north.

I see chux has been trying to upgrade his name calling. Make it more literary...

Unfortunately, a turd blossom is still a turd blossom.

You know, chux. You have enough money to go get yourself an education. Why don't you do it? You might find there's more to talk about than just calling people with whom you disagree names.

Can anyone remember the last intelligent thing chux said?

Reagan had a great guest on tonight. Our economy is not improving much. I heard the current unemployment number is 10.2% (I think) but really it is around 17%. Kevin Phillips (Republican of merit) called it 15% a year ago. Said they keep changing the way they count it. I don't know. If this country doesn't start producing something pretty soon, we are not going to have an economy.

It is getting pathetic.

Of course, as long as some people can continue putting their football fannies in tax-payor subsidized seats and win retirement money on the etrade lottery, they don't care. The fact that their kids and grandkids are going to be looking for work as well and maybe even not find it doesn't really occur to short-term idiots with short-term "me-first" thinking.

They are called tea baggers. And there's fewer and fewer of them. But, unfortunately, that doesn't solve the problem that our last "King George" created for his homeland. We are not a wealthy country any more.

Well, except for those few people who took our economy to the Cayman Islands and earned big bonuses by selling out America. Keep counting your silver, mrogi. One of these days you might just go after the beckerman with a gun. Never know what you might do for a loaf of bread if things get bad enough.

[KS]

Al Gore is fraud - a rich one at that though.

[KS]

I like Kevin Phillips - who denounces Republicans and doesn't care for Democrats either. His book "Bad Money" was enlightening and he has a unique way of examining the American political culture as a whole and how layer by layer it has been corrupted over time and now it seems like more and more pigeons are coming home to roost.

[joanie]

KS, we agree. Finally.