It was good to meet some of you for the first time and see others again in NYC for the spring conference. Much was accomplished behind the scenes (in spite of the St. Patrick's Day parade that weekend). Thanks to John Devecka, Jim Gorham and others for helping set up the panels and panelists.

1) Hopefully you all have received, reviewed and begun to coordinate entries for the 2002 CBI Awards Call to Entry. Though stated before, it can't be said enough about the labor of love Chuck Bailey of Marshall University put into this project. If you did not receive one, please let me know--have envelopes ready to go as soon as I receive your mailing address. Information should be posted to our web site (collegebroadcasters.org) soon as well. Remember that all entries are free to CBI members. Best of luck to everyone who enters.

2) For those in the group who have applied for/are interested in LPFM in your area, the FCC has set up a web site with a list of accepted applications at www.fcc.gov/mmb/asd/lpfm/index.html

3) As we enter the end of the academic year and you are putting your budgets together for next year, please remember to budget for CBI membership and travel money to attend the National Convention with CMA/ACP in Kissimmee, Florida October 31-November 2, 2002.

4) In the next few months, the CBI Board will begin coordinating voting for two advisor positions and one student position whose terms expire this fall. In the interim, please think about getting involved by running for these positions. The advisor positions are two year terms and the student position in for one year. All will commence at the fall conference.

5) Don't forget Daylight Savings Time (turn the clocks ahead and lose an hour) is this weekend in some areas.

6) For FCC licensed stations, 2002 first quarter Issues/Programs list is due in your Public Files by April 10th.

7) For those soliciting underwriting/advertising dollars, this from the Radio Advertising Bureau web site (rab.com) may be of interest:

The Restaurant Industry, Post 9/11 — Attacks Not a Major Influence on Americans’ Dining Habits

The fall of 2001 was a difficult one for the dining industry because Americans ate out less often, but changes in their dining habits were not directly due to 9/11 and the events that followed it, nor to concerns about bioterrorism and mad cow disease. Instead, Harris Interactive says, the decline appears to be due to broader social factors such as the condition of the U.S. economy, which already was in recession before 9/11. The survey on which Harris based these findings was conducted from November 13-20, 2001.

Consumers Are Dining Out Less Often There is no doubt that consumers ate out far less often in 2001 than they did at the same time in 2000. To measure the overall trend, Harris began by asking consumers what kind of restaurants they typically visited. Results for each type of restaurant mentioned were as follows:

Fast Food: 84 percent
Casual Style: 74 percent
Family Cafeteria Style: 53 percent
Upscale Restaurants: 27 percent
Coffee Shops: 28 percent

Harris then asked its respondents how their visitation patterns had changed for each type of restaurant in the past year. The results indicate a negative trend overall, albeit a slight one. Depending on restaurant type, 52 percent to 59 percent said their dining-out patterns were unchanged; 22 percent to 34 percent said they visited less often; and 14 percent to 23 percent said they visited more often.

When consumers who said they ate out less were asked why, they cited myriad reasons — but almost none (less than 1 percent) cited food-safety or general-security concerns.

So why did they eat out less often? Obviously, the reasons vary depending on the type of restaurant under discussion. Consumers who reported reducing their visits to fast-food restaurants said changes in eating habits and concerns about fat in food were the critical factors. Among patrons of upscale restaurants, however, those who visited less often largely attributed the change to economic factors.

While these results suggest that 9/11 and related events were not key factors affecting consumer behavior, roughly one in five consumers who said they were eating out less often said this was because they preferred to stay home. Harris admits that it’s possible this may be due at least partially to 9/11 and its aftereffects, but also notes in passing that a “return to the home” trend affecting more aspects of life than just restaurants had been noticed and remarked upon by the media well before 9/11.

Warren Kozireski
CBI Chair