The Biz: An inside look at bay area business newsmakers
Times staff writer
In Print: Monday, November 10, 2008
Bubba the Love Sponge Clem has helped make WHPT-FM 102.5 “The Bone” No. 1 in the Tampa Bay market among adults 25 to 54, and Bubba’s morning drive-time show is No. 1 in its time slot with a 12.5 share.
Radio station operator Cox Radio Inc. saw its third-quarter profit fall 21 percent on declining revenue and softening economic conditions — including the Tampa Bay radio market. But that doesn't mean the Atlanta-based company's chief is not happy with the local station — WHPT-FM 102.5 "the Bone" — and this year's return of Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. Cox chief executive Robert Neil, in discussions with Wall Street analysts last week, singled out Bubba. "In Tampa, WHPT is now the No. 1 station in the market with a share of adults 25 to 54, and in morning drive with Bubba the Love Sponge, the station is No. 1 with a 12.5 share," Neil said. Now Neil is leveraging Bubba's appeal with a push to rev up the struggling Jacksonville market. Bubba already is broadcast there, but Cox has hired legendary radio bad-boy Doug "Greaseman" Tracht to work Jacksonville during afternoon drive time. Those familiar with Bubba's off-color style will understand the Greaseman's method of risque storytelling. Tracht's career collapsed in the late 1990s after he delivered an on-air joke about the gruesome, racially motivated murder of a black man in Texas. Tracht apologized but was fired immediately from WARW in Washington, D.C. He went more than two years without a job in radio. After making amends by appearing before black groups and going on Tavis Smiley's show on BET, Tracht's career slowly revived. Cox operates 86 radio stations in 19 markets.
Nearly 20,000 Realtors from around the nation gathered this past weekend in Orlando at their annual conference for industry pep talks in a rough market and to wonder whether President-elect Obama might share any of that giant federal bailout money with the country's real estate industry. National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun was on hand to accentuate the positive and call for lower mortgage rates. "Today we're actually seeing favorable conditions for affordability, and this has led to rising home sales in areas that have seen the most marked home value declines," Yun said. Affordability is as high as it's been since 2003, and Florida saw sales increases of over 10 percent during the first two quarters of 2008. To encourage more buyers into the housing market, the association has proposed that the government buy down mortgage interest rates to ensure fixed low rates for home buyers. The national group also presented a four-point plan to Congress last month recommending that the repayment feature be removed from the first-time home buyer tax credit, that the tax credit be extended to all buyers, and that higher Federal Housing Administration and conventional loan limits be made permanent. "NAR will continue to press for housing stimulus, but recovery will also depend on restoring consumer confidence, and Realtors are an essential part of that," Yun said.
While Obama is likely to make a housing market recovery a central part of his economic revival plan, the association's chief lobbyist, Jerry Giovaniello, joked about Obama's "socialist" agenda. "There's not much left to socialize," he said. "I think Jiffy Lube may be next."
News
