J.P. Hannan

Clear Channel Tender Delayed Again

What a difference a day makes.... the Wall Street Journal reports after the market closed today that the CCU deal is "close to collapse" as the private equity groups and lenders can not come to terms on the credit agreements.

I have a feeling that should this ultimately close someone will be making a movie of this one day to rival the RJR buyout saga.

online.wsj.com/article...

Musicians Shouldn't Profit from the Sale of Social Networking Site Bebo to AOL

I'm not familar with Billy Bragg, but his comment is not entirely accurate-

"Radio stations also promote our work, but they pay us a royalty that recognizes our contribution to their business. Why should that not apply to the Internet, too?"

Music composers and the underlying music publishers do receive a royalty from the radio stations paid to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, but performers of music and the recording industry currently do not. This is a disputed issue that is being kicked around Congress and a major point of contention between radio stations and the RIAA.

For more info, see:

seekingalpha.com/artic...

How Counter-Productive Is Realtor Association Spin?

Barry, I couldn't agree more. David Lereah, a smart guy, lost all credibility in his final days with the NAR, sounding more like Baghdad Bob than a credible voice in the sector.

This flowed out to many local realtors as well though. I saw brokers telling clients about what a great time it was to buy in 2005, meanwhile they were putting their own homes up for sale.

Alan Greenspan Loses His Mind

I've always felt the Fed grossly overreacted to the tech bubble, raising rates too much and too fast to try to stop something that was otherwise going to fail on its own merits. They then refused to step in when they should have to curtail the lending abuses and housing bubble when they could have still brought it in for a soft landing... probably out of fear of over reacting again.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I knew the housing market was going to crash and burn just by reading Barrons in 2004 and looking at the disgusting prices people were paying for tract homes in my neighborhood. I believed it so much I sold my home in CA and rented, banking the profit and not looking back.

I always laugh when these fed officials say no one saw it coming or that it happened so fast. They had at least 2 years to plan. I have always found it hard to believe Greenspan couldn't see that coming as well, but never figured out what the motive otherwise could be to just let it ride.

A Couples Quarrel: Clear Channel Buyout Finally Closing

interesting perspective. you are right, does sound a lot like the TRB deal just before closing.

Time Warner’s Restructures Reignites Interest

Received an email from a SA reader about this great interview with Dick Parsons. Would advise anyone interested to please check it out-

www.first30days.com/ma...

World Wrestling Entertainment’s Mixed Martial Arts Potential

Excellent points imonit. Thanks for the comment.

World Wrestling Entertainment’s Mixed Martial Arts Potential

What amazing feedback... thanks to everyone.

I should have been clearer that I in no way do I think WWE should attach the WWE brand to MMA. As most mentioned above, it would clearly confuse people as to the legitimacy of the sport. It doesn't mean they can't keep MMA as a separate league and still use their corporate prowess and managerial skills to their fullest advantage there, though.

I have read that Shane McMahon is a big proponent of the sport, but that his mother Linda McMahon has said she thinks the sport will die out as a fad. Those comments were from over a year ago though, and one has to wonder if there has been any change of opinion based on the success the sport has seen since that time.

There is another great article on Yahoo Sports today about competition for talent in MMA if anyone is interested-

sports.yahoo.com/mma/n...

Thanks for all of the comments and emails.

Radio Value Opportunity Beckons: Calling Warren Buffett

Thank you everyone for the feedback, especially the flood of emails I received this morning. Please keep it coming.

The Radio and Recording Industries' Unnecessary Roughness

Great points 158984. With respect to your comment about the history of this controversy, you are right not much has been openly debated about this in the recent years which is why it was immediately dimissed by the industry as nonsense. However, this issue has its roots as far back as 1930. There are a lot of resources online that go through the legal history of the matter, and if you want please email me and I can give you a great piece compiled by an FCC Counsel that goes through it case by case.

Again, the crux of my comments were not so much aimed at who's right, who's wrong, but rather the missed opportunity of the radio industry to better its own hand by volutarily revisiting an ailing business partnership.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Radio Industry Challenges and Opportunities

Thanks for the emails I got this morning and all of the links to this over on the Yahoo message boards. Please keep the feedback coming.

The Radio and Recording Industries' Unnecessary Roughness

Special thanks to the editors at Radio-Info.com for featuring it on their site as well. Great resource for anyone wanting a deeper look into the radio biz.

Radio Earnings: Bleak Forecasts and Contrarian Plays

Thanks for the emails I got on this one. Always welcome feedback on my articles.

For Traditional Media, People Equal Profits

Thanks for the overwhelming number of emails I received on this one. Please keep them coming.

Always welcome feeback on my articles.

RadicalBuy: Radical New Competition for eBay

Thanks for all of your comments and emails. Always welcome feedback on my articles.

Special thanks to the guys at radicalbuy.com for also featuring it on their site.