Rites held for broadcast pioneer Mildred Carter

(From the KansasCityCall.com)

Rites were held for Mrs. Mildred M. Carter, 89, on Thursday, Jan. 9, at the St. David’s by the Sea Episcopal church inCocoa Beach, Fla.

Mrs. Carter died on Friday, Jan. 3, 2003, at Cape Canaveral hospital.

Mrs. Carter was a true pioneer in the broadcast field, and an important role model for women.

She attended the Henderson Business college in Memphis, Tenn., as well as Northwestern University School of Business, where she studied commercial law, accounting, and journalism. She continued her strong education in industrial relations and accounting at Rockhurst college in Kansas City, Mo.

In 1950, her husband Andrew "Skip" Carter founded KPRS, the nation’s oldest existing African American owned radio station in America. Today KPRS-FM "HOT 103 JAMZ" is a top rated radio station in Kansas City.

Mrs. Carter had been honored by the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters with the Pioneer of Broadcasting award, the Impact Magazine "Woman of the Year" award, and Living Legends award, as well as the American Women in Broadcast award for ownership of the oldest African American owned radio broadcast company.

She has also received many community service awards, resolution and proclamations for the outstanding performance of her business.

After her husband’s death in January 1988, Mrs. Carter took full responsibility as chairman of the board. She remained actively involved in the corporate planning and daily operations of the historic radio company.

She leaves her daughter, Carmen M. Carter; grandson and daughter-in-law, Michael and Monica Carter; grandsons, David O. Carter and Christopher Williams Carter; three great grandsons, Michael Andrew Carter, Robinson Carter and Alexander Carter, all from Kansas City, Mo.; son-in-law, Robert Williams of Kalaheo, Hawaii; extended family, Skip and Karen Finley of Washington, D. C.; and a host of friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dialysis Center at Cape Canaveral hospital, 701 W. Cocoa Beach Causeway., Cocoa Beach, Fla. 32931.

(To read more about the history KPRS and Carter Broadcasting, click here)


Radio One and Comcast to launch black TV network by mid 2003

(Jan. 13, 2003) – Comcast Corporation and Radio One, Inc. today announced an agreement in principle to launch a new television network featuring entertainment, news, opinion and sports-related programming targeted primarily towards 25-54 year old African-American viewers. The network, which has not yet been named, is expected to launch in mid-2003.

“We are very pleased to partner with Radio One, an innovative leader in reaching African-American audiences with programming that entertains and informs,” said Brian L. Roberts, chief executive officer and president of Comcast. “Comcast serves 21 of the top 25 U.S. markets, where 50% of African-Americans reside.

In the interest of providing the best possible multicultural programming for our subscribers, we have committed to launch this channel across a significant number of our markets and to work with other cable and satellite providers to reach as many total viewers as possible.”

The network will include a broad mix of original and existing programming designed to appeal to the African-American community, which both Comcast and Radio One believe is one of the most underserved demographic groups relative to targeted television programming. At approximately $2.7 billion annually, cable television constitutes the largest entertainment expenditure in African-American households.

 “We have known for over a decade that this group is woefully underserved in the television space and have long believed that we could leverage our radio experience to become successful in targeting African-Americans through television,” said Alfred C. Liggins, chief executive officer and president of Radio One.

”We have searched the last four years for the right distribution and content partner that shared our vision,” Mr. Liggins continued, “and are very excited to have found Comcast as that partner. Their cable distribution and network operations expertise combined with our experience in programming to African-Americans, and marketing and selling the African-American demographic is an absolute formula for success. We are very excited about the prospects of this new enterprise.”

The network is a joint venture between Comcast and Radio One. Radio One will make a direct cash investment, not expected to exceed $70.0 million. This investment will be made alongside an additional $60.0 million from Comcast and other parties, over approximately a four-year period.

Radio One will provide radio advertising time over a multiple-year period in exchange for an additional equity interest in the network. Mr. Liggins will become chairman of the network s. Radio One’s ownership in the network will be less than 40%. Comcast will commit both financing and a substantial number of subscribers for a similar-sized equity interest.

Tom Joyner takes control with new company
 
(Jan. 13, 2003) Tom Joyner, the hardest working man in radio, has stuck a deal that will likely make him the highest paid personality in the medium. After more than a year of negotiations with ABC Radio Networks, Joyner has formed REACH Media with David Kantor and will assume control and syndication of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. The program is heard by 8 million listeners through 120 stations.

Joyner will be majority shareholder and chairman of REACH. Kantor, former ABC Radio vice president, will be vice chair and Oscar Joyner will serve as president and COO. In exchange for a 10 percent stake in REACH Media, ABC will retain the right to broadcast the show through 2009 and will handle national sales and affiliate relations. Joyner’s daily four-hour morning program bring in $32 million in advertising annually.

The new company plans to develop additional programming for radio and television, movies and Internet projects.


Black magazines beat industry growth rate for ad sales

(Jan. 13, 2003) These are tough times in the magazine publishing business, but black magazines are doing better in advertising sales than the industry overall. According to figures from the Publishers Information Bureau, the top five African-American targeted titles earned $243.8 million in annual ad revenues up to November of last year. That’s a 4.5% increase of earning for Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence, Jet and Vibe from 2001. That’s slightly better than the 3.7% increase for all magazines tallied by the PIB.

The actual number of ad pages placed in black mags dropped by2.8% over the same 11-month period in 2001. The drop among all magazines was almost twice that, at 4.4%. Most black titles also out-performed general market titles in the same category. Jet, for example had a 7.2% increase in ad revenue, while People Weekly had a 4.7% increase. Vibe pulled 12.4% more ad dollars than 2001, while Rolling Stone reported a 3.7% increase.

Collectively, the five black magazines reported $243.8 million in advertising sales.

Title	'02 Pages	'01 Pages	% Chg.	'02 Dollars	'01 Dollars	%Chg.
Black Enterprise	909.9	1,058.1	-14%	32,877,556	36,007,099	-8.6%
Ebony	1,015.4	962.2	5.5%	56,906,963	52,875,861	7.6%
Essence	1,042.4	1,105.1	-5.6%	58,489,502	58,253,827	0.4%
Jet	963.0	923.4	4.2%	25,881,583	24,143,389	7.2%
Vibe	1,039.6	1,068.29	-2.6%	69,744,135	62,011,435	12.4%
Total	4,970.5	5,117.1	-2.8%	243,899,739	233,291,612	4.5%

Source: Publishers Information Bureau. For the period of Jan. '02 to Nov. '02.

Pepsi names Spike DDB as its new African-American ad agency

(Dec. 23, 2002) – Following a review of several agencies over the last few months, Pepsi-Cola North America today named Spike DDB its multicultural advertising agency of record. Spike DDB is a minority-owned, full-service advertising agency founded by world-renowned film director Spike Lee and DDB Worldwide. The agency’s first commercial work for PCNA will be a TV ad starring music and film sensation Beyoncé Knowles. The new TV ad is scheduled to air sometime in early 2003.

"From breakthrough movies to videos, Spike Lee’s impressive body of work speaks to the heart of the urban experience," said Randy Melville, vice president-multiculturalism and strategic initiatives for Pepsi-Cola North America. "We are excited to begin collaborating with Spike DDB, bringing unique capabilities and fresh insights to our creative process, and helping our ads resonate with consumers throughout the United States."

Spike DDB’s new arrangement with Pepsi may go beyond creating TV advertising to include development of radio, print and Internet creative.

"Pepsi has a long history in its commitment to developing a relationship with the African-American and multicultural communities. They have set very high standards in meeting this commitment," said Spike Lee, chairman and chief creative office for Spike DDB. "Spike DDB is excited about the opportunity to work side by side with such great partners and we are ready to go to work."

BBDO New York, Pepsi’s longtime agency of record, continues to handle general market advertising, while Dieste Harmel & Partners, based in Dallas, is responsible for Pepsi’s Latino advertising.

Spike DDB is a minority-owned, full-service advertising agency founded by acclaimed film director, Spike Lee and DDB Worldwide. The agency is focused in integrated communications that target African-American and urban-minded consumers.

Roy Johnson resigns as editorial director of Vanguarde Media

(Dec. 12, 2002) In an unexpected announcement, Roy Johnson said in an e-mail to colleagues that he was leaving his posts at Vanguarde Media Inc. and Savoy magazine to return to Sports Illustrated as assistant managing editor. Before joining VMI nearly three ago, Johnson was an editor at the Time Inc. title.

“Vanguarde allowed me to realize a dream I conceived seven years ago; Savoy,” said Johnson in his statement. “With the February issue, the magazine will celebrate its second anniversary, no small achievement in these treacherous times.” There no indication in the statement about who would assume Johnson’s responsibilities.

Johnson’s quest to create an upscale magazine for African-Americans began after he edited a special edition of Time Inc.’s Fortune that featured for the first time prominent black business executives on its cover. He carried that vision to fruition when he joined Vanguarde in April 2000. When the company acquired and closed the black-oriented news magazine, Emerge, the subscription base became the launching pad for Savoy.

Johnson’s 14-year career at Time Inc includes positions at SI, Money and Fortune. Prior to coming to Vanguarde, he was editor-at-large for Fortune.


Barry Mayo returns to New York to head Emmis stations group

(Dec. 12, 2002) One of radio’s most successful executives has been tapped by Emmis Communications to turn around its stations group in New York. Barry Mayo, who was the original general manager and program director at Emmis’ KISS-FM when the station launched its urban format two decades ago, has been named senior vice president of Emmis/New York.

Mayo will replace Judy Ellis who is stepping down when her contract expires at the end of February. Along with WRKS/KISS, he will oversee operations at the smooth jazz station WQCD (CD101.9) and the CHR formatted WQHT (Hot97).

Mayo, 50, has long established his reputation for start-ups and fixing ailing stations. In deja vu fashion, he has consulted with KISS for the past 9 months and orchestrated its recent turn around from twelfth to third place among the city’s adult listeners.

After launching WRKS, Mayo teamed with Lee Simonson in 1988 and co-founded Broadcast Partners Inc, which owned five stations, including WVAZ/V-103 in Chicago. After growing to 12 stations and going public, they sold the company in 1995 and Mayo created Mayomedia, a consulting firm. He is also chair of the board of the National Jazz Museum.


2000 Census missed 500,000 minority kids

By Genaro C. Armas
.c The Associated Press 

(Dec. 12, 2002) Black and Hispanic children made up about half of the 1.1 million children missed in the 2000 census even though they comprise one-third of all U.S. kids, according to newly released government estimates.

Census data adjusted using statistical sampling also show urban areas such as Los Angeles County and Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, were among the places with the highest minority undercounts of children and adults. Sparsely populated rural counties across the West and Midwest also had some of the highest rates of people missed.

The data released by the Census Bureau this week under court order offered a more detailed look at previously announced national undercount estimates. In March 2001, the bureau said about 3.3 million people, or 1.2 percent of the U.S. population, were missed.

Nearly 29 percent of the children missed were black, a disproportionately high figure since blacks make up only 15 percent of the youth population. Hispanics were about 20 percent of the child undercount, compared with 17 percent in that population.

Nationally, about 45 percent of those children missed were white, less than their 60 percent share of the total population of children. There was also a slight overcount of Asian children.

California, the most populous state, had the largest undercount, 509,012 people, while Alaska had the highest percentage of people missed, 2.4 percent, or 15,136 residents.

``It was unfortunate that we had to fight so hard to get this information, but now that we have, I hope we can use it to its fullest advantage,'' said Rep. William Clay, D-Mo., who supported the data release.

The data released this week was based on bureau research done through March 2001. Preston Jay Waite, an associate census director, said more study done since then shows the national net undercount may have been reduced to less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

``We envision no official use of this file'' because of the flaws with adjusted data, said Waite, who added that still-unfinished additional research may be released in the future.

The government takes a census every 10 years. The bureau sends census takers or questionnaires to every U.S. household, though not every one responds. The bureau tabulates the results and sends them to federal social service agencies, which use them to determine how to allocate billions of federal dollars to each state for Medicaid, foster care and other social service programs.

The census also reallocates U.S. House seats based on population changes.

After the 2000 count, the Census Bureau used mathematical formulas to estimate how many people were missed and how many were counted twice. Because more people are typically missed, the net result is an undercount.

A 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling bars the use of those adjusted numbers for reapportioning congressional seats.

Typically, census takers following up with people who did not return a form encounter more difficulty getting into locked city apartment buildings, where more minorities tend to live. People who live in apartments tend also to be younger, have young children and move more often.

Rural households get missed because it may be difficult to find them. Some undocumented immigrants may choose not to fill out their form, even though the census does not ask about legal status.

People counted twice often include college students and people with two homes.

Democrats, big-city politicians and civil rights groups contend that many communities are being shortchanged government aid because many of their residents were missed in the original count.

Opponents of adjusted data, mainly Republicans, have said the complicated statistical methods used to determine the undercount may not allocate people to the proper neighborhoods because the formula is less accurate on the local level.

``Any estimates of population or funding will be useless and as fatally flawed as the numbers are themselves,'' said Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee's census subcommittee.

State and local lawmakers may - if their laws allow - use the adjusted data to redraw municipal political districts or to reallocate billions in government dollars controlled by states for things such as school construction and social services.


BET cancels Ed Gordon’s show, “Lead Story” and “Teen Summit”
by Artelia C. Covington
NNPA News Service

(Dec. 10, 2002) Black Entertainment Television is canceling most of its popular public affairs programs, including “BET Tonight with Ed Gordon,” “Lead Story” and “Teen Summit.” BET officials told the NNPA News Service that both “Lead Story,” the panel of journalists that appears each Sunday, and “BET Tonight with Ed Gordon” will be off the air by the end of the year. Because of the backlog of programs already taped, “Teen Summit” will remain on the air until early 2003.

The only remaining public affairs program on the network is the nightly news program hosted by Jacque Reid, a former CNN anchor. BET insiders say the news program was spared because it has a production contract in place with CBS News, whose parent company also is Viacom.

“This was obviously not Bob Johnson’s decision because these were his favorite programs,” says one longtime BET executive. Another one added, “It was time to pay the piper and Bob’s no longer the piper.”

Johnson, the founder and chief executive officer of the company, sold BET to Viacom on Jan. 23, 2001, for $3 billion—$2.5 billion in stock and $500 million in assumed debt. He owned 63 percent of BET, the company he started in 1979.

At the time of the sale, Lee said: “The acquisition will have no impact on the voice of BET. BET will continue to be run by Bob Johnson and myself in the way we have always run it for the past 20 years. So we will continue to have an independent Black voice.”

Obviously, that’s not the case.

“An African-American company gains a considerable amount of capital when it sells out to a powerful conglomerate,” says George E. Curry, editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service and a panelist on “Lead Story” for more than seven years. “But it also loses something important. Regardless of how BET tries to spin it, the loss of these important programs represents a major setback for the Black community.”

In a two-page news release issued late Wednesday afternoon, the company portrayed the removal of the popular TV news shows as a needed “restructuring” to make the way for more program acquisitions. The news release did not even identify the dropped programs by name.

“Like any network preparing for an influx of new programming, a few BET shows already in our lineup will eventually be cancelled,” says Lee who also is BET president. “There will be more specific announcements about the extent of our lineup changes over the next several months.”

BET also announced that effective immediately, 40 employees—12 percent of its 350-person workforce—will be dismissed. Those losing jobs work in New York, Los Angeles and the Washington, D.C., corporate office. Some of the employees were given a few minutes to gather their belongings on Wednesday and were escorted off the company property by security guards.

“It’s always difficult to lose people as part of a business process, but these changes are our effort to support our new programming direction at BET,” Lee says.

There were many critics of BET even with its old programming direction.

Still, the airing of the public affairs programs such as “Lead Story” provided it with a defense against being a Black version of MTV. Even with its videos, the old BET provided more Black-oriented public affairs programs than all of the other cable networks combined.

When the network was still owned primarily by Johnson, BET was roundly criticized for its abundance of sexually explicit videos, its decision to discontinue the Friday news roundup program once hosted by Ed Gordon and getting rid of Bev Smith, a popular talk show host.

Once the majority owner of “Emerge: Black America’s Newsmagazine,” Johnson allowed the magazine to fold in 2000, along with “BET WeekEnd,” another well-respected magazine.

Then came a very public and bitter split with Tavis Smiley when Johnson decided last year not to renew Smiley’s contract. Smiley had been a popular host of “BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley” for five years. Johnson made a rare appearance on-air to defend his decision, saying they had a “somewhat difficult” relationship.

Although it was not generally known at the time, the “BET Tonight” format had been created for Ed Gordon, the former host of “Lead Story.” However, after Gordon’s exclusive interview with O.J. Simpson in 1995, he was hired away by MSNBC-TV and the new program went to Smiley.

After three years as an anchor and correspondent at MSNBC, Gordon returned to BET to again host the show. He anchored “BET Tonight with Ed Gordon” from New York.

In the meantime, Smiley, a staple on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show,” landed his own program on National Public Radio and serves as a special correspondent on other network programs.

It is not clear what role, if any, that Gordon will continue to have at BET. Gordon has been the public face of BET since its inception and top executives are discussing how best to re-deploy its hottest on-air talent. Everything is being discussed from having him bump Jacque Reid, the host of the nightly news program, to finding a role for him at CBS News. Gordon also will have other options outside of BET, including the possibility of syndicating his own celebrity interview program.

Bob Johnson has often said that “Lead Story,” originally telecast in September 1991, was his favorite program on the network.

However, the journalists’ roundtable had begun to lose some of its edge, some suspect deliberately. In January, Cheryl Martin voluntarily resigned. For some inexplicable reason, Amy Holmes was hand-picked by Johnson to be the regular “guest host,” even after it became clear to viewers that she did not have the depth or polish of Martin.

Another substitute host was Cassandra Clayton, an accomplished former NBC network correspondent. Although Clayton was the clear choice of the journalists that appeared on the program, BET had already decided to award the permanent job later this year to another substitute host, Beverly Kirk.

“Teen Summit” also experienced a change of character when its operations were shifted from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles. The brainchild of Johnson’s ex-wife, Sheila, the 13-year-old program had won numerous awards for its excellence, including seven NAACP Image awards.

“What this means is that BET will have virtually no programming,” says one former BET official. “We were already down to skin and bones and now we don’t have that.”

© Copyright NNPA News Service. All Rights Reserved


Philadelphia black newspapers launch campaign during boycott of Daily News 

(Dec. 13, 2002) Philadelphia's black press has decided to take up the cause of a two-month old boycott organized against the Daily News. I

Inspired, as they say,  by the African-American community's two-month-long boycott against Knight Ridder's Philadelphia Daily News, six of the city's largest-circulation black newspapers have launched a joint promotional campaign to promote the viability and reach of the black press in Philadelphia.

As a first step in the effort, the publishers have begun to run an ad in each of their respective papers, promoting the names and phone numbers of each publication and touting a combined weekly readership of 1.2 million persons. 

In a direct reference to the African-American community's concern about the lack of fairness and racial insensitivity of the Daily News, the headline of the ad reads: "More than 1.2 million readers every week get the truth about our community from the Black Press."

The participating black newspapers are the Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia New Observer, the Philadelphia Sunday Sun, Black Suburban Journal, Scoop and the Neighborhood Leader.

The publishers say their joint efforts and cooperation in reaction to the boycott are unprecedented, and they are exploring additional opportunities to work cooperatively to enhance the visibility of the black press in the Greater Philadelphia area.

On September 9, 2002 the Coalition For Fair News Coverage, announced a boycott of the Philadelphia Daily News in response to a decades-long pattern of racially abusive and anti-Philadelphia news coverage at that paper. The Coalition now comprises more than 100 community, business, civic, civil rights, grass roots and religious organizations.


BET promotes Louis Carr to President, Broadcast Sales

(Sept. 10, 2002) Louis Carr has been named president of broadcast advertising sales for BET Holdings, a division of Viacom. The promotion makes Carr, 46, the third highest-ranking executive at BET behind chairman and CEO Robert Johnson, and president and COO, Debra Lee.

Carr will continue to be based in his native city of Chicago and will oversee sales offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Southfield, Mich. Last year BET had advertising revenues of $136.8 million, according to estimates compiled by Kagan & Associates.

Carr has built one of the most successful and rapid-rising careers in media, all of it through posts at black-oriented media. The last 16 years of Carr’s 19 years in the industry have been in positions at BET. He previously was cable network’s executive vice president of Media Sales. His career began with brief stints as an account executive for Ebony and Black Enterprise magazines.

In 2000, Carr led BET to a history-setting $100 million in net advertising revenues, the first time an African-American media outlet had broken the hundred million-dollar mark in ad revenue.

McDonald's runs into trouble overseas with its McAfrika sandwich

(Sept. 10, 2002) According to an Associated Press story, global restaurant giant, McDonald’s was criticized for the introduction of a new McAfrika sandwich last month in Norway. Humanitarian groups were disturbed not with the name of the new product, but with the timing of the launch.

The McAfrika addition to the menu of 15 McDonald’s outlets in Oslo occurred just before the U.N. summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on assisting the billions of people worldwide who are without food, clean water and proper sanitation.

“There’s nothing wrong with the name; it’s was the timing,” said Tarje Wanvik of Norwegian Church Aid. “They launched it just as a famine in Africa is starting.” The AP article said the group actually like the McAfrika because “it makes the food and Africa itself sound exotic and positive.” The sandwich, made of beef and vegetables and wrapped in pita bread, was advertised as being based on African recipes.

Following demonstrations, McDonald’s agreed to let Wanvik’s group and the Norwegian Red Cross place boxes for contributions in restaurants where McAfrika is sold. They also are able to promote their causes on tray liners and posters


Pepsi pulls commercials featuring rapper Ludacris

(Sept. 10, 2002) “There’s a new Pepsi Generation,” was the quote in the N.Y. Times Aug. 27^th from the beverage-maker’s director of multicultural marketing, Giuseppe D’Alessandro. He was referring to the company’s latest push to attract younger consumer by using popular music artists with appeal among diverse audiences.

Pepsi, however, is going to have to find a new celebrity to entice the hop-hip lovers of that generation. Just three months after hiring the chart-topping Ludacris to rap about the joy of Pepsi in commercials, the beverage-maker pulled his first spot off the air.

The action by Pepsi came after conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly of the Fox News Channel called the beverage-maker “immoral” for using Ludacris to pitch its products.  “I’m calling for all responsible Americans to fight back and punish Pepsi for using a man who degrades women, who encourages substance abuse, and does all the things that hurt particularly the poor in our society,” said O’Reilly.

Pepsi has launched campaigns in the past featuring edgy and controversial artists. Past experience may, in fact, have been the reason the company reacted so quickly to O’Reilly’s call for protest. In 1989 a commercial featuring Madonna was dropped at the same time that some were decrying the religious images and references in her “Like A Prayer” video.

UniWorld Group, Pepsi’s African-American ad agency for more than 20 years, created two Ludacris spots. The second was schedule to beginning running this month. The agency also created a new Pepsi commercial featuring comedian Bernie Mac that has been airing principally in the southeastern U.S.