At Deadline - January 24, 2000

Emmis and Primedia Battle for L.A. Mag
A bidding war for Los Angeles magazine raged into last weekend between suitors Emmis Communications and Primedia, according to a source close to the magazine. Disney's 183,373-circulation monthly is expected to fetch as much as $35 million, considered a steep price for the struggling regional title. The dueling publishers have much to gain from establishing a foothold on the West Coast. Indianapolis-based Emmis, publisher of Texas Monthly and Atlanta, already owns the top-rated radio station in Los Angeles, KPWR-FM, and sees potential synergies from the purchase. For Primedia, owner of New York and Chicago, landing Los Angeles would give it properties in the nation's three largest media markets. Officials at both Emmis and Primedia declined to comment.

Anchors in a Champaign Jam
After squabbling over an expanded work schedule, a married news anchor couple walked out of Champaign, Ill., CBS affiliate WCIA-TV last week and were slapped with a lawsuit by station owner Nexstar Broadcasting. "We want them back," said Nexstar president Perry Sook. Sook, who wants anchors Marta Carreira and Jerry Slabe to work a seven-hour day and attend news planning meetings, said that the two log only eight hours per day combined. "We try to apply the same standard of fairness to every news employee across the company," Sook said.

Hundt Supports McCain on Pax
In another example of strange political bedfellows, former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt last week defended Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) for McCain's letter to the FCC urging members to vote in favor of Paxson Communications' deal with a Pittsburgh TV station. In a missive to The Washington Post, Hundt wrote: "Nothing was objectionable in the letters that you mysteriously find offensive If you think John McCain's opinions and actions can be bought, your opinion flies in the face of all my experience of the man." McCain and Hundt, a powerful Democrat, often found themselves at odds during Hundt's 1993-98 tenure at the FCC.

Clear Channel Buys 5-Station Cluster
As it waits to close on its $23.5 billion deal to buy AMFM, Clear Channel Communications last week picked up five stations in Binghamton, N.Y., from Majac of Michigan for $20 million. The four FMs and one AM had $2.9 million in 1998 revenue, or 32.2 percent of the Binghamton radio market, according to Duncan's American Radio. Clear Channel operates more than 800 radio and 19 television stations.

Skipper, Walsh Join ESPN Internet Group
In an effort to push ESPN's sports expertise deeper into the new media world, Disney last week handed John Skipper and John Walsh, two of ESPN's highest-ranking sports media executives, leadership roles at ESPN Internet Group (EIG). Skipper will become senior vp