The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 9

I The Fresno Bee Saturday June 20 1992 A9 Tiny Cayman Airways feels crush of American Airlines Giant carrier disputed the contention it was trying to musde in on the small business By Dirk Beveridge Associated Press NEW YORK American Airlines faces more accusations that it is jeopardizing a competitor through strong-arm tactics This time the charge comes from employees of tiny Cayman Airways The Cayman Airways workers this week sent a letter to American chairman Robert Crandall which they then published in an advertisement in The Wall Street Journal saying American's expansion in the Cayman Islands threatens their jobs American disputed the suggestion and said it will continue flying from Miami to Grand Cayman twice a day The giant carrier doubled its number of flights to the island south of Cuba earlier this month taking over a route formerly flown by now-defunct Pan American World Airways That apparently did not sit well with go on the offensive" against "a small airline like Cayman Airways which has only four aircraft and 360 American disputed the contention it was trying to muscle in on the small carriers business a little bit disappointed that they felt the need to do something like American spokesman Marty Ileires said American recently stepped in to fly the route abandoned when Pan Am stopped frying last December but pointed out the route might eventually go to United Airlines the workers at Cayman Airways which also flies the route twice a day "There is room for American and Cayman on this route if the competition remains as the letter to Crandall says "But with your tremendous marketing power route network and the fact that most Americans are going to choose a US carrier over a foreign carrier a second flight by American Airlines at this time could possibly mean the loss of our The Cayman Airways workers said they did not "understand why a giant of the airline industry like American must Either way more flights into the Cayman Islands should help the tourism industry expand there Heires said good for everybody including Cayman he said American has recently faced charges from more substantial rivals Northwest Airlines Continental Airlines and America West Airlines that it is engaged in predatory pricing intended to drive weak competitors out of business American disputes the charges contained in antitrust lawsuits American is seeking a legal ruling that its pricing practices are legal Pair seeks OK to buy radio stations KBOS-B95 and KKAM were forced into receivership by a creditor By Wanda Coyle The Fresno Bee A company formed by Fresno ex-banker John Brocks Jr and radio veteran Steve Miller has filed for approval from the Federal Communications Commission to acquire radio station KBOS-B95 and its sister station KKAM The company CenCal Broadcasting Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy the station for $15 million about one-fourth the price paid by the current owners The station was forced into re- Flamboyant advertising exec quits Jerry Della agency created Joe Isuzu who was a hit with TV viewers By Skip Wollenberg Aflnnrinfpri Press NEW YORK Outspoken adman Jerry Della Femina resigned Friday as head of the agency he founded 25 years ago agreeing to a contract buyout after efforts to buy the agency from its French parent broke down over price The departure of the combative chairman and chief executive Jerry of Della Femina Della Femina McNamee Inc clears the way for its parent Euro RSCG to realign its three UJ3 agencies including a possible merger Euro RSCG also controls Tath-am RSCG based in Chicago and Messner Vetere Berger Cary Schmetterer in New York The three agencies handle a combined $1 billion in ad hillings a year Della Femina and leaders at Euro RSCG were unable to settle into a harmonious working relationship in three years together Della Femina now 55 sold controlling interest in the agency then known as Della Femina Travisano Partners to WCRS in 1986 and signed an agreement that said he would oversee US operations But WCRS sold its advertising interests to the French ad group Eurocam in 1989 Eurocom later merged with another French ad company and became Euro RSCG Euro RSCG Med to give Della Femina operating control over its other US agencies and he was openly critical of his French Ball of fun Children frolic in the ban crawl at the restaurant company's indoor playground prototype expands business by playful Leaps Bounds ceivership by creditor Fleet Bank of Providence RI August ruling expected Miller and Brocks said they plan no change in programming because the stations have good ratings now and said Miller no reason to fix something not The drop in price from the $575 million paid for the stations in 1986 to the offered $15 million today is a reflection of "a shakeout that was bound to said Brocks During the mid-1980s Miller said radio become "a darling to Wall creating "a big bubble in terms of the value of the The bubble burst in the 1990s the two Baid and they believe that getting into the business now at a realistic price will pay off High prices Brocks said that in the broadcast industry a reasonable value for a station should be six or seven times the operating cash flow cash receipts minus operating expenses but prior to interest and principal payments In the late he said "it was not unusual for deals to be put together at 12 times the operating cash Stations KBOS and KKAM have been "underperforming substantially on the financial under receivership Miller said and this is a good time to pickup the stations "Now that out of the inflationary spiral good operators should be able to make a reasonable Brocks said Brocks is the former president and chief operating officer of the Bank of Fresno and its parent company ValliCorp Holdings Inc New interests Since resigning in November he has become involved in several businesses including 2020 Financial a consulting company Miller started his radio career in 1977 with the KKAM forerunner KMAK as an advertising salesman and became executive vice president in 1979 In 1988 he went to work for Continental Cable Television directing its advertising sides and more recently opened his own marketing consulting firm He also owns Fresno Shirt Co Milwaukee and the Chicago suburb of Westmont More than a dozen others are planned for 1993 for cities that include Atlanta Houston Indianapolis Philadelphia and Columbus Ohio While the centers may make money for Michael Mueller an analyst with Montgomery Securities in San Francisco said concerned the image as a hamburger business might suffer "It seems to make more sense for to be focusing on its basic business than to get involved in a totally new business" Mueller said Michael Kennedy an analyst with IDS Financial Services in Minneapolis said attention should be focused solely on rolling out its new dinner menu which could jump-start domestic sales By Clifr Edwards Associated Press CHICAGO Food analysts are less than enthusiastic over decision to expand to 15 cities its fledgling Leaps Bounds indoor playground business But children are lining up several tots deep for a chance to romp at Leaps prototype facility in suburban Naperville spokeswoman Terri Capatosto said "We are very happy with our Leaps Bounds she said "It has long waiting lines on a fairly regular basis a lot more we want to learn about this type of business before we make any bigger The 11000-square-foot facility offers slides climbing ropes crawl tunnels air mattresses and pens Ml of colorful plastic balls It costs 8495 per child per day Two new centers are to open in August in trial Prosecutor says Milken testimony hel it if the pending court approval as rounder receivership the probably will rule on the in August allowing transfer to close The stations were bought in 1986 by Radio Fresno Inc in which the principals were Miller Alex Sheftel of Washington DC and Burke Kaplan of Santa Barbara Miller who was general manager of tiie stations sold his one-third interest to Sheftel and Kaplan in 1988 At the same time the name of the AM station was changed from KMAK to KKAM and the news-talk show format was dropped Programming switch The programming switched to "young adult contemporary" essentially rock roll similar to the programming on the FM sister station KBOS The KKAM format now is simulcast oh KBOS KKAM broadcasts on 1340 AM and KBOS on 949 FM Della Femina was known for encouraging a free-spirited ap- New York Times to advertising among em- proach NEW YORK parole in about 24 months The favorable assessment is the first from the government that could help chances of obtaining a reduced sentence especially when compared with an earlier one by Hayes In March in which he said cooperation with federal investigators and prosecutors thus for had been of "only Ignited The assessment also ran counter to a widespread belief that Milken helped more than hurt his longtime friend when he testified earlier this month At the time federal prosecutors refused to speculate on what they would say to Wood Despite Michael contradictory evidence the US attorney in Manhattan said Friday night that "cooperation and testimony substantially aided the government in the prosecution of Alan The assessment of testimony in the trial of his former protege was included in a law memorandum by Acting US Attorney Roger EL Hayes to Federal Judge Kimba Wood who is scheduled to rule on plea for a reduction of the 10-year prison term she gave him in 1990 for his guilty plea to securities fraud Milken who already has served nearly 15 months in a California prison will be eligible for ployees and had a flair for drawing attention The agency shocked industry purists in the late 1980s by creating a character who routinely made outlandish and obviously false claims in a campaign for Ibuzu cars and pickup trucks Joe Ibuzu was a hit with many TV viewers but some ad executives fretted that the character contributed to cynicism about advertising in general BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS Market snapshot Stock Indexes A DJ30 Industrials up 1123 A 500 40367 up 271 A Wilshire MIL up $2444 bill Trading volume NYSE 240850000 Currency NY dose A Dollar in yen 12700 up 020 A Dollar in marks 15730 up 0060 Pound in dollars 81A59 down 10045 Credit more jobs from its Douglas Aircraft Co unit in Long Beach amid continued weak demand for its commercial jets Douglas sent layoff notices to 800 hourly workers in Long Beach on Friday company spokesman John Thom said while 850 notices went out to salaried and hourly workers three weeks ago at Douglas plants in Long Beach ami Torrance Mediator in talks WASHINGTON American Telephone Telegraph Co and union officials will meet Monday with a federal mediator to discuss the status of their contract talks The telecommunications company the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have been negotiating a new three-year contract since March 30 The unions have been working without a contract since May 30 ange Cove Porterville Tulare and Selma Fed helping Russia fl NEW YORK The Federal Reserve said it is providing Russia with some nuts-and-bolts advice on how to modernize its banking system and join the global economy more quukly Gerald Corrigan president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank on Friday announced the formation of the Rus-sian-American Bankers Forum a group designed to help upgrade antiquated finanrial system Olympia York troubles NEW American Express Corp in a potentially damaging move for Olympia Canary Wharf development warned it might scrub plans to move into the project unless meets certain conditions If American Express breaks its lease at Canary Wharf as indicated Friday it could further jeopardize the financial prospects UPI talks end WASHINGTON A lawyer who may make a bid for United Press International said he ended discussions with a Dutch foundation that offered to provide the wire service $7 million Amsterdam-based National Postal Lottery missed a noon deadline Friday for submitting a letter of intent said attorney Leon Chamey who has spent $180000 to keep UPI in business through Monday while he looks at the hooka Chamey Baid others were interested in the wire service McDonnell Douglas layoffs LOS ANGELES McDonnell Douglas Corp says it has cut 1650 The markets Stock prices rose The dollar rose Gold fell Bonds felL Bank branch sales SAN FRANCISCO The purchase of 33 Security Pacific National Bank branches in Central and Southern California by Union Bank has been approved by the California State Banking Department officials said Friday Security Pacific sold the branches in keeping with regulatory requirements resulting from its merger with Bank of America The acquisition was previously approved fay the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp The branches are scheduled to open as Union Bank offices on July 6 and will retain existing staff The branches sold include ones in Auberry Coalings Fresno Delano Hanford Madera Or 6-month Treasury 175 down 08 A 30-year Treasury 713 up 03 Lehman index 123316 down 311 Motels NY Comex Gold $34010 down $180 Silver $4120 down $0060 Compiled from Bee wire services i 1.