What's Hot in Television Marketing CHANN EIS JUNE THE BUSINESS OF COMMUNICATIONS 1987 ACHI EV ERS The Annual Survey of the 90 Fastest -Growing Media Companies A. H. BELO CORPORATION AARON SPELLING PRODUCTIONS INC ADAMS -RUSSELL CO. INC ADELPHIA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AMERICAN CABLE - fAH7fl)o SYSTEMS CORPORATION AMERICAN FAMILY CORPORATION ATC (AMERICAN có3C0 TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS COR- 00 C PORATION) BARRIS INDUSTRIES C.O.M.B. CO t-+ `r1 O r) f.+ CABLEVI SION SYSTEMS CORPORATION CAPITAL < Or, CITIES/ABC INC CBS CENTEL CORPORATION CEN- rItl el O HZ H TURY COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION CHRIS-CRAFT yy r'i INDUSTRIES INC CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS INC -CC THE COCA -CO _A COMPANY COMCAST 4 D O CORPORATION COX 230 ENTERPRISES INC DELAURENTIIS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC DICK O CLARK PRODUCTIONS INC THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY EMMIS b ~ BROADCASTING CCRPORATION FINANCIAL NEWS NETWORK FRIES EN- TERTAINMENT INC GANNETT CO. INC GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC) GENCORP J GRAY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS INC GULF+WESTERN NC HAL ROACH H STUDIOS INC HERITAGE COMMUNICATIONS INC HERITAGE ENTERTAINMENT INC CT] rr HOME SHOPPING NETWCRK INC INFINITY BROADCASTING CORPORATION JACOR Or+ COMMUNICATIONS INC JOHN BLAIR & COMPANY JONES INTERCABLE INC KING WORLD QO PRODUCTIONS INC KNIGHT-RIDDER INCORPORATED LEE ENTERPRISES INC THE LIBERTY COR- D PORATION LIN BROADCASTING CORPORATION LORIMAR-TELEPICTURES CORPORATION MACLEAN HUNTER LIMITED MAI CITE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP INC MCA INC McGRAW-HILL INC p MEDIA GENERAL INC MEREDITH CORPORATION MGM/UA COMMUNICATIONS CO MULTIMEDIA INC NEW WORLD PICTURES LTD THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY THE NEWS CORPORATION LIMITED ORION PICTURES CORPORATION OUTLET COMMUNICATIONS INC PARK COMMUNICATIONS INC PEREGRINE ENTERTAINMENT LTD PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES INC PRICE COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION QVC NETWORK INC REEVES COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION ROBERT HALMI INC ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC SCOTT CABLE COMN I., NICATIONS INC SCRIPPS HOWARD BROADCASTING COMPANY SELKIRK COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED STAUF- FER COMMUNICATIONS INC SUN GROUP INC TAFT BROADCASTING COMPANY TCA CABLE TV TELE -COMMUNICATIONS INC TEMPO ENTERPRISES INC TIME INC TIMES MIRROR COMPANY TRI -STAR PICTURES INC TRIBUNE COMPANY TURNER BROADCASTING SYSTEM INC TVX BROADCAST GROUP INC UNITED ARTISTS COMMUNICATIONS INC UNITED CABLE TELEVISION CORPORATION UNITED TELEVISION INC VESTRON INC VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC WARNER COMMUNICATIONS INC THE fVASHINGTON POST COMPANY WESTERN WORLD TV INC WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION WESTWOOD ONE INC www.americanradiohistory.com --1-..y LO9JMAR to and proven comedy tested only n etworklfirstrun Fire up the e www.americanradiohistory.com as a strip.100 pertoflhl tchlessly Its a Living www.americanradiohistory.com CI-IANNEI.S THE BUSINESS OF COMMUNICATIONS VOL. 7, NO. 6 JUNE 1987 REPORTS The show goes on in Baltimore despite anchor's serious illness ... Hard times for CBS' four o-and- 8 o's ... NBC's checkerboard gambit ... FCC fed up with false fronts ... New life for Justice Department cable investigation ... Pay TV goes after illegal chips. MARKETING/PROMOTION THE COPYCAT FACTOR At the judging for the annual BPME gold 17 A. H. BELO medallion marketing awards, imitation was the CORPORATION sincerest form of flattery, but it didn't turn many AARON SPELLING judges heads. PRODUCTIONS INC BY RINKER BUCK ADAMS -RUSSELL CO. INC THE CHANNELS ACHIEVERS 4 EDITOR'S NOTE 25 A year for the entrepreneur. 25 Introduction 25 26 Arrivals, Departures; Glossary 29 Reaching the Top: Risk and Reward 6 BY CECILIA CAPUZZI LETTERS 30 Channels Achievers: The Top 90 Media Companies 13 33 The Best -Performing Stocks WHAT'S ON 36 25 Big Companies: How They Do It A monthly calendar 39 Performance of The Channels Achievers 49 What's Ahead: Industry Forecasts 54 Media's Hot Moneymen 15 AUDIENCE Perfecting the Body IN FOCUS: WHAT'S HOT IN Count MARKETING 57 BY RICH BARBIERI 58 Making Localism Count BY JEAN BERGANTINI 20 GRILLO PUBLIC EYE 60 Selling the Children BY CECILIA CAPUZZI A Quantity of Quality BY PATRICIA E. BAUER 62 What Makes Geraldo Run BY LES BROWN PRODUCTION 22 THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE THE BUSINESS SIDE Hollywood calls it low-grade extortion. Agent 66 New Season Blues? Marty Hurwitz calls it television packaging. BY MERRILL BROWN Whatever it's called, Hollywood wishes it would go away. 75 BY JAMES TRAUB PRIVATE EYE Wimbledon: Hold the MARKET EYE Berries BY WILLIAM A. HENRY III WHEN BOSSY WAS BOSS How milk cows made for crazy TV in 71 Indianapolis. 78 SOUN DB IT ES BY JEAN BERGANTINI GRILLO From an interview with Frank Biondi, MEDIA DEALS chairman of BANDING TOGETHER Coca-Cola Television In the past, small investors had a tough time 73 owning TV or radio stations. A new offering by 80 Malrite and E.F. Hutton may change all that. RUNNING THE NUMBERS Cover illustration: Darryl Zudeck BY ELLEN BERLAND GIBBS 2 CHANNELS / JUNE 1987 www.americanradiohistory.com All Hours are not the same. In today's marketplace, the differences are real and measurable -and can be counted in dollars and cents. That's what makes T.J. Hooker an undeniable value. TJ. Hooker The Hour COLUMBIA/EMBASSY TELEVISION A und of Ceera á .9wum www.americanradiohistory.com PLEASE COME AND ENJOY OUR EXQUISITE THAI CUISINE The Nature of Things KHUN AKORN Television's calendar is somewhat out of phase with nature's. Nature is in THAI RESTAURANT full flower in June, its big season only beginning. Just the opposite with TIME OUT: By Lindsey Bareham 'It's the food the makes this new television: Its season has just ended and the planting begun for the next. restaurant an ABSOLUTE MUST to visit. Nature bids us to look forward in June; television has us looking back to what The food is so complex, rich, tasty and delicious that it is quite unlike any other just happened. Thai food I've tried in London. This is Thai So we look back, with this issue of Channels, on the companies that did best food at its most regal.' in the last year from a financial point of view, because these are likely to be the HARPERS & QUEEN: by Lloyd Grossman companies that shape the near future of electronic communications. 'A fine example of upmarket ethnicity. I look forward to a return visit.' Which ones hit the jackpot in 1986? Which ones came out of obscurity to Also recommended By: WHATS ON become formidable players? Which are most attractive to investors, and why? 3 -course set Lunch £9.50 Lunch Menu £5.80 We call these The Channels Achievers. This special section is topped with OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK FOR LUNCH AND DINNER profiles of four chief financial officers, the men behind the scenes who 136 Brompton Road implement their CEOs' ambitious plans. Knightsbridge Top 90 -related companies, as measured by London SW3 1HY The tabulations on the television Tel: 01-225 2688 revenue growth, are a Channels exclusive, initiated last year. Compiled under the guidance of our executive editor, Merrill Brown, the listing of Achievers is a regular June feature in this magazine-making it the only place where companies in the field can see how well they're doing and where they rank in relation to others in the industry. With the phenomenal Home Shopping Network in the lead, based on its 1986 performance, this year's Top 10 of growth achievers includes four independent production companies, a network corporation, one media group owner, a radio syndicator and two of the front -running TV syndication firms. The listings and 3 breakouts are highly revealing of where the money and power in television lie today. Also notable in this issue are two new departments: Jean Bergantini Grillo's erred &a4óetie Market Eye, a close-up study of the competition in significant television markets, and Ellen Berland Gibbs' Media Deals, in which the veteran Wall TANDOORI RESTAURANT Street observer analyzes the significant business transactions of the moment. FULLY LICENCED Our In Focus section is keyed this month to the Broadcast Promotion & Marketing Executives' conference in Atlanta, highlighting some of the most 1 BRECKNOCK ROAD effective promotional campaigns of the past season. LONDON N7 And as for looking forward from June, since that is when the real work for Tel: 01.267.7550 the new television season gets underway, we offer what we believe to be the Opening Hours: most penetrating article ever written on the role of the talent agent in network 12 noon - 2.30 p.m. programming. It's by James Traub, one of the most stylish writers among our 6 p.m. - 12 midnight contributing editors, who focuses his entertaining story on Marty Hurwitz, a hot young packaging agent at ICM. As you will see, Channels is in full flower in June. In that respect, we're in perfect sync with nature. Manzil Restaurant CONTINENTAL g2, FULLY LICENCED 18 YORK WAY LONDON W1 Tel: 01.837.8042 4 CHANNELS / JUNE 1987 www.americanradiohistory.com CHANNELS A investment Editor in Chief smart media LES BROWN Publisher GEORGE M. DILLEHAY takes more than Executive Editor MERRILL BROWN Managing Editor a broker or a banker. PETER AINSLIE Art Director It takes both. in producing efficient, analytical TRACI CHURCHILL solutions Senior Editors A media broker who knows to complex problems. Our knowledge of STEVE BEHRENS, RINKER BUCK, JERI BAKER broadcasting, from mergers, acquisitions current market values and trends and our Associate Editors and divestitures to station operations. comprehensive approach to marketing JOSEPH VITALE, CECILIA CAPUZZI An investment banker who (including preparation of a detailed Mem- West Coast Editor knows finance, from capital markets to law orandum of Information) assure success. PATRICIA E. BAUER Assistant West Coast Editor and taxation. Why choose between a broker or JOAN VON HERRMANN The smartest media investment a banker when you can put the best of Washington Editor takes the expertise, professionalism and both to work on your next transaction? PATRICIA HERSCH integrity of Gammon & Ninowski and our For a confidential discussion, call Assistant Art Director associates.