The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 46

2D SATURDAY 11' Pi 2001 BUSINESS the chari otte observer New competitor makes old favorite sing sad tune Bus Digest 1 ROM AROl M) 1HH XA i ION AND WORM) ECONOMY Radior simsi 'TSt" 'rrrf? iBsaaaaBfis nM sat I rrrPT "5 i i i i Mr 1 8 i 1 1 iniinintni I an aaait TODD SUMLIN-STAFF Disc jockey BJ records a commercial Friday at WPEG which saw its ratings slip this spring because WCKH-FM (927) changed to an urban-music format Ranking Radio Stations Overall results from spring ratings: fc? ST 12L" If cfm Station 10 WLNK FM (107 9) 11 WSSS FM (104 7) 12 WCHH FM (927) 13 WEND FM (106 5) 14WNMX FM (1061) 15 WNOW AM (1030) 16 WXRC FM (95 7) 17 WFNZ AM (610) 18 WGIV AM (1600) Consumer confidence shows drop Expectations for year ahead rise for 3rd straight month Reuters Faced with a steady drumbeat of corporate layoffs and a weak stock market financial picture deteriorated in July halting two straight months of gains in consumer confidence a Friday report showed But analysts said the modest drop in the University of July consumer sentiment index to 924 from 926 in June was minimal and that consumer confidence wliich fell sharply early this year as worries about the future sank had mostly stabilized over the past three months expectations for the future rose for a third month boding well for consumer spending and bolstering hopes that the US economy which only plodded along in the second quarter would begin recovering by end analysts said The Michigan sentiment index which hit a five-year low of 906 in February fell from a preliminary number of 937 released at midmonth and was below the 936 economists had expected The main index was dragged lower by the current conditions component a gauge of how comfortable consumers feel about their current financial picture which fell sharply to 986 from 1016 in June It was also down from a preliminary 1002 But the expectations component of the index which measures attitudes about the year ahead rose for the third consecutive month to 884 from 869 in June Station 1 WNKS FM (951) 2 WSOC FM (1037) 3 WWMG FM (96 1) 4 WBT AM (1110) FM (993) 5 WLYT FM (102 9) 6 WPEG FM (979) 7 WRFX FM (997) 8 WKKT FM (969) 9 WBAV FM (1019) AP FILE PHOTO Dresdner Bank with its headquarters in this Frankfurt Germany building said Friday it will cut 1500 jobs as part of a consolidation of its investment banking arm The move has a cost-saving potential of about $439 million Under the plan Dresdner said it will fuse its investment banking and corporate client divisions into a new unit rom ID hiring away chief engineer and business manager This spring station changed on-air personalities picked up the syndicated Paar and Olivia morning show from Washington changed its name to WCHH (for and abruptly altered its music mix It went with an urban format of rhythmic crossover that stressed hip-hop and the most popular pop such as singer and actress Jennifer Lopez and the single featuring Christina Aguilera and others Kwei said The mix is calculated to attract the 18-34 crowd that advertisers like to reach The move broke nearmonopoly in the high-energy hip-hop music form whose current incarnation was bom in the Bronx about 20 years ago and spread In the Arbitron spring ratings period which includes April-June total audience was down from a year ago and it came in at No 12 among the 18 stations ranked in tire market but its new format apparently lured enough listeners away from the market leader that WPEG fell from No 1 in the winter to No 6 in listeners over the age of 12 in the spring is a very powerful Kwei said Diane Tucker vice president and general manager of urban stations in Charlotte said that although sampling of the competitor weakened overall numbers it retained its lead in key demographics is the No 1 urban-for-matted station in the market and will continue to be for she said is healthy but we will continue our Combined radio stations in the Charlotte market are expected to bill about $102 million in advertising this year down about 8 percent from 2000 according to industry estimates three urban stations are expected to generate about a fifth of the billings somewhere in the $18 million to $22 million range Kwei said WPEG sells advertising at higher rates but WCHH has managed to attract new advertisers including Coca-Cola Met-rolina Dodge and and has seen a major increase in entertainment advertising The black audience is increasingly important to ad buyers Blacks make up 28 percent of population in the latest census and represent $3 billion in spendable income in the metropolitan area WRITER TONYA JAMESON CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE Mark Washburn SOURCE Arbitron Co Audience share represents average quarter hour percentage of listeners 6 a to midnight every day for all listeners in the Charlotte market older than 12 years old a potential market of 1 2 million since spring 2000 and -FM which provided simulcast content are combined New home sales continue to rise ECONOMY Sales of new US single-family homes rose in June the government said Friday as the housing sector continued to display resilience in a slumping economy New home sales climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 922000 in the past month a 17 percent increase from May The sale of new homes in June was 163 percent higher than a year ago This was the biggest year-on-year increase in new home sales since December 1998-97 The new home sales level was above 900000 for the seventh month in a row the first time this has happened since the Commerce Department began keeping the statistics in 1963 REUTERS JDS shares hit low after record loss TECH JDS Uniphase Corp shares fell 97 percent Friday a day after the biggest maker of fiber-optic parts reported a full-year loss of $506 billion the largest in US history and said fiscal first-quarter sales would be lower than earlier estimates The stock fell 92 cents to $855 Friday after earlier touching a 52-week low of $786 The company said it had the record loss after restating third-quarter results to write down acquisitions JDS Uniphase said fiscal first-quarter sales will fall short of last forecast of $450 million BLOOMBERG NEWS i AWlft0 SAVE lllo 5 on your LftlfGfHRPordet connecting 7M47MU7 THE one and only ENGLERT wwwIoafguardcom LeafGuard? sr ra tttm a sent the national unemployment rate up to 45 percent in June from a three-decade low of 39 percent in October last year The rate is expected to rise to around 50 percent by the end of the year is truly a collapse in the business sector of unusual proportions It is very widespread and I see a reason why it should abate any time said Allen Sinai chief economist at Decision Economics in Boston leaves as a big wild card the consumer and GDP shows a fading consumer If consumer spending fades from here we could still have a recession If the tax rebates take hold we could probably still skirt for textiles Hayes said the Mexican government has impounded hundreds of thousands of yards of fabric that were being shipped illegally into that country United States needs to take this problem as seriously as the Mexican he said hope President Bush puts some teeth into our customs laws We are not asking for anything new We just want to be handed a level playing Hayes conceded imports causing all of the problems stop the hemorrhaging but it will send a message to the people who are doing these illegal he said it will show the administration is not taking our 500000 workers and discarding them to the wind Bush wants to keep the South he needs to make some 2nd quarter growth anemic business sector in full retreat The Family Sees Free! buy one get one free eyeglasses AND UP Purchase a complete pair of omplSe'h5oferqSiVeS or lesser value FREE 99 foVhmcT II TSJ) AND UP clear contacts only i Limit two boxes any combination of 2 family members 'Lx likely rise and exports may remain weak because of a slowdown in Europe and recessionary clouds in Asia Average profits at companies are expected to have dropped more than 17 percent in the second quarter the worst performance since the last short US recession in 1990-1991 The third quarter does not look much brighter Companies responded to the profit slump with deep cuts in jobs and investment They pared inventories heavily to cope with weak demand This could make room for production to increase in the second half if consumer spending holds up economists said Meanwhile massive layoffs request help flooded our country in recent the governors wrote They requested a meeting with Bush discuss this situation personally and to convey its importance to our respective As of Friday the White House had not responded Chuck Hayes chairman of Greensboro-based Guilford Mills and president of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute said his industry asking the federal government to pass new laws need any new ones we just need some teeth in our existing he said Friday Hayes believes the Bush administration needs to act immediately to stop unfair trade practices of the areas is he said are being flooded with illegal goods and undervalued goods in the US Mexico and Economyr omlD deep interest rate cuts since the beginning of the year helped avert a recession Further sluggish growth has reduced the threat of inflation meaning the Fed can be comfortable cutting rates further as it is expected to do at its upcoming Aug 21 policy meeting avoided a recession and continue to avoid said Wayne Ayers chief economist at FleetBoston Financial Still some say it is too soon to declare victory over recession given that business spending shows no signs of rebounding quickly unemployment will Governors SouthernromiD in 1949 In their two-page letter to the White House the governors asked Bush to attack unfair trade policies and prohibit imports from countries that take advantage of child labor US textile and apparel employment has been falling for years mostly moving to more efficient machines or cheaper labor overseas More recently the industry claims layoffs have been forced because foreign competitors are bending US rules and depriving American companies of sales and profits textile efforts to modernize and remain competitive have been negated by the tidal wave of unfairly low-priced Asian imports that have Two Bornw Color Blew Disposable hm hzfr ONLY! 00 Buy one get one free Limit two boxes nVL' ur let es Expert Care Compreher sive eve exan by a Licensed Doctor of Opton etry talP of the irt qmpn ent sm EYE EXAM 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