“There’s a book out” on part of Dean Goodman’s Digity group.

To translate from Deal-speak, that means “There’s some package of financial documents [a book] circulating in the M&A world, relative to Garrison Investment Group’s significant involvement with Digity.” Several sources are telling this NOW Newsletter about “the book,” though they’re divided about it means. Does Garrison want out – or does Goodman want them out? One theory is that Goodman aspires to expand beyond radio into the TV business, and Garrison didn’t want to go along for the ride. So he and/or they are looking for a buyer of the Garrison equity interest in West Palm-based Digity. Another theory, unrelated to the TV speculation, is that Garrison simply wants to exit this company and/or the radio business. Digity and Garrison have certainly been busy. Digity just recently completed its $66.5 million stock purchase-deal of the Midwest-based Three Eagles group, following on the February closing of its $85 million purchase of 33 stations from NextMedia. Dean is comfortable doing big deals. (He once tried to buy 39 markets from Clear Channel.) Goodman was one of the group heads at the Radio Show Leadership Breakfast preaching that more consolidation’s ahead. He said “There are still loads of stations” in groups, “mostly family-owned, that are looking to sell.” He intends to be there as a possible buyer (along with Alpha, Townsquare, Connoisseur and others). But based on “the book” - Garrison no longer shares his appetite.

The BBG Watch blog quotes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying that the agency that oversees the Voice of America and other services is “practically defunct” in what the blog calls “its capacity to engage with audiences abroad on behalf of the United States.” Morale is lousy, budgets have been repeatedly cut at the staff level, while the ranks of administrators have grown. There’s also little outreach using social media. Who’s the potential new boss, Andrew Lack? He worked at CBS News from 1976 to 1993, in roles such as producer at “60 Minutes” and “CBS Reports.” In 1993, he left to become President at NBC News. He later served as CEO and then chairman of Sony Music Entertainment Group, COO/President of NBC Universal, and then CEO and now Chairman of Bloomberg Media Group. The job he’d be accepting in reporting to the Broadcasting Broad of Governors doesn’t quite exist yet – it depends on what Congress does with H.R. 4490, the “United States International Communications Reform Act.”

Now it’s CBS Radio’s turn to book the stars for a glitzy concert – “We Can Survive.”

This one’s got a got an upfront-charity angle, since $2 from each ticket goes to organizations that help women with breast cancer (and their families). If last weekend’s iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas was about building the iHeart brand and spurring more downloads and usage of the app, and the iHeart pool party in Miami’s just about having fun in the sun – this one’s got the edge of a cause. Taylor Swift was a big headliner for iHeart in Las Vegas, and now she’ll perform for CBS Radio at the October 24 “We Can Survive” show. Also booked for this second annual event are performers Pharrell Williams (pictured), Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, Lady Antebellum, Paramore, and “Chandelier” chanteuse Sia. iHeart had its L.A.-based Ryan Seacrest announce the lineup for the Vegas bash – and CBS has KAMP Los Angeles morning personality Carson Daly do the honors for its show. You use the assets you have, and CBS shows it can bring the stars out, too. Pre-sale tickets for Citi Card-holders are available today, with the ticket window opening for the general public Friday morning. More from L.A.’s sponsoring “Amp 97.1” here.

Connecticut-based Townsquare’s been pursuing a “buy and build” strategy, building brands like PopCrush, and also buying existing buckets of content – all with an eye toward digital. Sure enough, the upcoming October issue of the XXL hip-hop magazine will be the last one to be published on a regular schedule. Townsquare’s keeping all the staff, and re-purposing their work toward digital, complementing Townsquare’s own squad of urban stations. There will be occasional “special editions” of XXL, but for now it’s on printing-press hiatus. Check the website here. Townsquare also intends to reactivate the “King” men’s magazine brand (again for digital consumption), and you can see some older content here. And it will put more resources into the pop-culture “Antenna” brand (website here). Townsquare Chief Content Officer Bill Wilson is “tremendously excited to add these premium brands to a portfolio that attracts over 75 million U.S. monthly unique visitors” – well beyond the reach of the broadcast radio chain. Wilson also bows to the “incredibly important urban audience” that agencies and advertisers want to communicate with. Learn more about Townsquare, XXL, Antenna and King here.

WWFM went to replace its old studio-to-transmitter copper link – and found somebody else’s fiber alongside it.

Specifically, the classical non-com licensed to New Jersey’s Mercer County Community College discovered fiber-optic belonging to Rochester-based Fibertech. Four years ago, that company had discussions with the college in West Windsor about laying fiber to service a T-Mobile facility that’s also on the tower of WWFM (89.1). But the school says there was never an agreement – and now it’s hauling Fibertech into court. For one thing, it says its own previous contractor probably left a “pull-cord” that would greatly help in replacing its worn-out copper. But that cord’s gone, and the school says “it appears Fibertech utilized this pull cord in their fiber installation.” So now, “it would be extremely difficult to install the requisite copper wire without damaging Fibertech’s unauthorized installation.” Doesn’t WWFM have a backup STL? Yes, but it delivers lower quality audio, and when you’re doing classical music, quality matters. While the main STL system has been noisy whenever it rains or the temp rises above 90 degrees. In fact, the copper might even short out under those conditions. So GM Peter Fretwell is stuck using the standby system – and the college says it’s Fibertech’s fault. The school alleges that the company’s been making money off its unauthorized installation without paying any compensation, and it wants damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits and legal costs. It also aims to evict Fibertech from the radio station’s conduit, so it can get back to business as usual.

This is very fresh stuff - the re-named iHeart Communications tells the SEC that as of last Friday, “revenues for iHeart’s [radio] segment were pacing up 2.5%, with core stations pacing up 1.3%.” Many group heads and sales execs have been predicting that the second half of the year would be better than Q1 and particularly better than a very squishy Q2. Things are not quite so sunny over at Clear Channel Outdoor - “Pacings for the Americas Outdoor advertising were down 0.8%.” While business seems to be up about 4.5% at the International Outdoor advertising segment. We learn this because iHeartMedia informed the regulator about another quarter-billion dollars worth of notes it just sold -

Another $250 million in notes from iHeart will push back more debt back to the future (2022).

But iHeartMedia had to dangle a 9% interest rate on this new private issue of stock – the same lofty rate it’s paying on $750 million worth of notes issued earlier this month. By far the largest iceberg in the field of debt for the the former Clear Channel is its “Term Loan B” – currently on the books at just over $8.2 billion. Now it’s doing a private offering of “priority guarantee notes” due in 2022 to pay down part of that loan. So far, it’s had no trouble finding buyers for these relatively small amounts of notes, because (as one dealmaker puts it) “Wall Street looks at the free cash flow and says Yes, you can handle more – at least right now.’” President/CFO Rich Bressler recently announced that for the first time since the 2008 buyout, iHeart’s total debt has just fallen below $20 billion. The debt wall from that expensive deal looms in 2016 and beyond. Last week when the company announced its re-branding as iHeartMedia, Bressler told the company’s Town Hall videocast that “you should know that Bob [Pittman] and I have a plan” to surmount the debt coming. (One industry leader, under his breath, muttered “Pre-pack” – as in pre-packaged bankruptcy. He said it just loudly enough for this NOW Newsletter to hear.) For now, Pittman and Bressler continue nibbling away at the debt. $243.5 million of the proceeds from this private offering go toward pre-paying the Term B loan that matures in 2016. Read the coverage from the San Antonio Business Journal here.

Despite the gloomy sounding sermon, Fitch “believes the company has adequate liquidity to meet its debt service obligations” – and that’s what it’s all about. But there’s a thin margin. Fitch says its ratings (“CCC RR4”, for “substantial credit risk”) and negative outlook “reflect the limited room within the credit profile to endure any material deterioration in operations.” So Fitch’s next paragraph shouldn’t surprise you – “Fitch does not expect a material amount of absolute debt reduction over the next several years, given the expected negative free cash flow.” Chicago-based Fitch figures that iHeart is facing about $21.1 billion in consolidated debt, including the debt held under CC Finco LLC. It expects iHeart will just “focus on extending or repaying its term loans” with more notes like the $250 million add-on issue at iHeart and/or Clear Channel Outdoor. Speaking of “CCO” –

That’s analyst Marci Ryvicker’s strong impression from an investor conference last week. She says “this was stressed and put in unequivocal terms” – the former Clear Channel, now iHeartMedia, likes its U.S. outdoor business. There’s an interesting balance between investors who are anxious for CC Outdoor to convert static billboards to digital ones as fast as humanly possible, and the company’s own desire not to cannibalize existing revenues. There’s also the angle that the construction costs of digital boards are coming down, as the business grows, and that’s another reason to avoid red-lining the engine on conversions. There’s a special situation with digital boards in Los Angeles, where Clear Channel Outdoor lost 77 of them after they were ordered turned off by local government. Negotiations are still underway, but President/CFO Rich Bressler says “I don’t think you’ll see them on in the next month, or the month after.” But Ryvicker of Wells Fargo says he’s “hopeful that the situation would be resolved within a year.” For now, she says some of the digital boards are covered in vinyl – “though not all, because this too requires an approval process.”

Anchorage TV reporter’s on-air resignation ends with an f-bomb.

Charlo Greene was concluding her report on Sunday night about a local cannabis club when she said that she owns the club and intends to work toward legalizing marijuana in the state of Alaska. Then the startled viewers and the folks in the control room at CBS affiliate KTVA were treated to this – “And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice, but f- it, I quit.” CNBC reports the incident, and says Greene “then calmly walked off the set.” The club she was describing “works to pair card-carrying medical marijuana recipients with growers.”

The IRN/USA Radio Network, specializing in Christian talk and conservative news, has been acquired by Raleigh-based Cross Platform Media. That's from Cross Platform CEO Sam Hassell, a former staffer at Salem Radio Network. He recounts the history of the company he’s just acquired - from the 1972 Point of View talk show begun by Marlin Maddoux to the 1985 founding of the USA Radio Network. By now, the lineup includes Daybreak USA, The Jim Sumpter Show, the Bible’s Greatest Heroes, Marriage Builders Radio, the “Golden Age of Radio” (shows from the 1930s through the 1950s), The Advocate with Janet Carter (“sound legal counsel and Biblical advice”), the radio news network – and the 40-year-old Point of View (“defending faith, family and freedom”). Some of the other interests of Cross Platform Media include ChristianPress.com and the Christian News Service. No price announced by these two privately-held companies, but you can learn more about the deal here.

Most drugstore chains do big business in national radio, though not CVS. But last week, its rival Walgreens bought 24,855 spots, enough to jump it from #16 to #4 on the Media Monitors Spot Ten list. Rite Aid was right there with 21,762 spots, moving from #4 to #5. It was a week where Home Depot (repeating at #2) was strong, but Lowe’s didn’t show in the top 75. GEICO insurance is again #1 overall, running 37,831 spots. And it’s nice to see carmaker Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge hold the #6 position – though the next auto manufacturer on the weekly list is Toyota Dealer Association, all the way down at #43.

Why did “Tell City” fail? Blame it partly on the Ashbacker doctrine, says attorney David Oxenford. He can explain both those buzz-phrases, coming out of last Friday’s highly-anticipated FCC decision that dashed the hopes of AM operators who want more immediate access to FM translators. As you read here yesterday, the Commission staff declined to open the door any wider on its existing “Mattoon waiver” policy, ruling that Way FM’s plan to move a translator into Indiana would improperly block others who might want to do something with that same allocation. The staff is also clearly saying it wants guidance from the Commissioners on the Eighth Floor – as Oxenford details at BroadcastLawBlog here.

Allison Warren re-joins former associate Jeff Brown for a highly visible market manager role inside Cumulus – overseeing the cluster that includes Nashville’s country “Nash 103.3” WKDF and sister country WSM-FM (95.5). It's also got highly-rated all-sports “104.5 the Zone” WGFX. Allison and Jeff worked together in Denver, and now Jeff’s a Senior VP at Cumulus. He says “Allison did great work in Denver and has since built a portfolio of successes in vibrant radio markets including Austin, Madison and Milwaukee,” for Entercom. Now she crosses to the Cumulus world, succeeding 3-1/2 year incumbent Mike Carpenter in Nashville.

Jim Ryan – the one in Dallas, not the CBS-New York programmer of the same name – signs on at ABC News Radio. Steve Jones of ABC tells his staff “I am very happy to share good news about our colleague Jim Ryan, who many of you know has been a full-time employee at Cumulus’ WBAP [in Dallas] while contributing to us on a limited basis. Starting November 1, Jim will be exclusively ours – reporting from Dallas, covering the southwest and continuing to travel on breaking news assignments.” Jones says Ryan is “a tremendously talented reporter with significant experience covering every imaginable type of story.”

Alan Fish will be living in two very different zones from now on – getting up early (L.A. time) to oversee national sales for the Emmis-managed urban cluster in New York, while continuing his NSM job for Emmis urban “Power 106” KPWR in Los Angeles. Back in Gotham, the Emmis trio is urban “Hot 97” WQHT, urban AC WBLS (107.5) and gospel WLIB (1190).

Staffer M.I.A. - A must-remain-anonymous-and-you'll-see-why NOW reader says "Yesterday's story about the bookkeeper with two mortgages skimming off cash reminds me of a sales assistant at a station where I worked. She would often hang out with the air staff at station events and she was popular, but one day, she just mysteriously disappeared. A memo went out, saying she was 'no longer with the company.’ None of us ever saw or heard from her again. A year or two later, I bumped into our former traffic director, and I asked her about the disappearance. That's when I finally got the real story - the sales assistant had been cooking the books to support a very nasty and increasingly expensive cocaine habit. Her father paid back the money she stole, with the condition that the station not press charges." Got your own true story about the radio business – the one you still shake your head or laugh about? Email “You Can’t Make This Up” – Tom@RTK-Media.com.

Use this NOW Newsletter to reach your target audience, if you’re a vendor or service supplier whose target is radio, and the people who run it. This is a highly-engaged and passionate audience that’s hungry for new ideas and new ways to make money. They’re an interested audience. Your contact is our Kristy Scott. She’s at Kristy@RTK-media.com or phone 818-591-6815. See you back first thing tomorrow - Tom