Broadcast Outlets Forego Revenues To Cover Tragedy

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While the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon brought huge ratings to television and radio stations last week, L.A. media lost countless sums in their effort to cover the history-making tragedy without advertising.

Charles Rahilly, co-manager of the L.A. market for Clear Channel Communications Inc., said the company’s eight local radio stations would likely be able to reschedule most of their missed ads and that the revenue loss would be negligible.

But Mary Beth Garber, president of the Southern California Broadcasters Association, acknowledged that “there’s a certain amount of money that’s just gone.”

Some advertisers, such as airlines, have clauses in their contracts that allow them to pull spots in the case of an airplane crash or accident.

“When the dust clears on this, we will probably have lost thousands of dollars in revenues, but it’s worth it,” said John Davison, president and general manager of the four ABC Radio Network stations in Los Angeles. “You drop all business concerns in a situation like this to better serve the public.”

George Nicholaw, general manager of KNX-AM (1070) said that while there will be some loss, stations like his may see an upturn in ratings as people become more news-hungry.

“(Advertisers) realize that people want all the information they can get on something like this so the ratings picture…is bound to increase,” he said.


The Big Story

Area newspapers added editions and pages throughout last week. The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News printed special editions the day of the attacks with no advertising. The Times printed 25,000 copies of its eight-page special section. The Daily News put out some 20,000 copies of a six-page section.

The Times continued its expanded coverage of the attacks with an almost ad-free, 40-page front section on Wednesday that was filled with color photographs. Along with the Daily News and several other daily papers in the area, the Times printed thousands of additional copies in the days following the tragedy.


Stop the Presses

L.A.-based R & R; magazine missed publishing an issue last week for the first time in its 28-year history.

The weekly radio and music industry trade publication canceled its Sept. 14 issue because of safety and logistical concerns, said Editor-In-Chief Ron Rodrigues. R & R; goes to press on Tuesday night.

Following the terrorist attacks last Tuesday morning, employees at the magazine’s Century City office and Washington bureau were sent home, Rodrigues said.

“We just decided that it was just going to be unfeasible to try to get the paper out on Tuesday,” he said. “We lose that revenue.”

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