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Radio Disney catching the ears of youth-and advertisers: Event marketing key to getting local kids to tune in

Two years after its launch, Radio Disney’s local WRZD-FM 98.3 affiliate is outperforming many affiliates in the 55-station network, even though traditional measures of its success are anything but magical. WRZD’s rating by New York-based Arbitron Inc., the industry’s standard media research firm, shows the station barely cracking the top 20 in this market. But WRZD has prospered through another number: listener calls per day. The station averages an eye-popping 4,070 calls a day, according to officials at Radio Disney’s…

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$34M from NFL lightens Colts’ load: Money will count toward team’s portion of stadium cost

A $34 million loan of sorts to the Indianapolis Colts from the National Football League brings the franchise and local officials another step closer to signing a new stadium lease and drastically reduces what the team will spend out of pocket for the stadium’s construction. The National Football League approved a $34 million loan June 14 that will be applied to the Colts’ $100 million share of the $625 million downtown facility, which is scheduled to open in time for…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Keep your eye on the design

Design matters, and architects aren’t the only ones who should care. On the eve of two significant ground breakings, even those of us who know nothing about facades and fenestration should consider what’s about to take place here. Later this month, the first dirt will be turned on the site of the city’s new airport terminal, and we can assume that dignitaries will brandish shiny shovels next month just south of the existing RCA Dome. In both cases, there will…

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SPORTS: Artest’s future bright as long as Bird’s in his corner

In this space and in other media forums, I have expressed optimism that the Indiana Pacers’ Ron Artest will (a) make it through an entire NBA season without incident, (b) perform like the selfless allstar he has been and can be again, and (c) therefore justify the Pacer management’s faith in keeping him in a blue-and-gold uniform. What I fear, of course, is that he’ll do (d) none of the above. Artest’s talent is obvious. Unfortunately, so is his volatile,…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Hat World helps propel parent’s stock out of slumber

When Indianapolis-based Hat World Corp. announced its $165 million sale to a Tennessee firm 17 months ago, it had posted increases in same-store sales for an impressive 27 months in a row. Now, make that 42 and counting. Such a streak is almost unheard of in the rough-and-tumble retail world, especially for a firm wrestling with the inevitable distractions that go along with the transition from independence to ownership by a publicly traded company. “We have maintained the same momentum…

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Firm plans to get personal with clients’ home pages: Former gubernatorial candidate runs Web business

Developing an Internet home page that gives users more options for content than what behemoths such as America Online and Yahoo! offer through their syndicated selections has become the ambition of George Witwer. The 46-year-old Bluffton native, who once aspired to be Indiana governor, launched the northwest-side Humanizing Technologies in January 2000. With much of the product’s research and development in the can, the venture is close to weaning itself from investors and, for the first time, could turn a…

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Fever reverse attendance slide, grow sponsorships: League still working to stabilize, diversify fan base

The Indiana Fever have reversed a fouryear attendance slide at a time when most WNBA teams are sliding backward. The team, owned by Pacers Sports & Entertainment, has seen average per-game attendance grow from 7,589 last year to 7,926 this year. With the Fever in the playoff hunt in second place in the Eastern Conference and several promotions planned, team officials expect average attendance to climb higher the second half of the season. “The lifeblood of the WNBA is ticket…

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Colts tout new stadium: Zupancic adds muscle to sales and marketing efforts

A multifaceted sales and marketing effort is being executed amid a front-office reorganization that includes replacing the team’s longtime marketing mastermind and adding nine positions to bolster ticket and sponsorship sales. The offensive is being quarterbacked by former strength and conditioning coach Tom Zupancic, who took over for Ray Compton when Compton left this off-season to form a consulting firm. The team says its sales and marketing initiative is already putting up big numbers, but today’s good news will quickly…

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Employers promoting fitness: To battle steep insurance costs, businesses help employees get healthier

Wearing a pedometer, Kelly Dircksen treads 2,000 or so steps a day at the office, racking up her highest counts in her treks to the photocopier. Her 2-1/2-mile daily goal entails after-work walks, as well. The 34-year-old quoting specialist said her company pays 50 percent of any fitness-related costs for her and her family, including a Weight Watchers program, running shoes for her kids, and the entry fee for her son’s marathon. “I’m definitely healthier,” said Dircksen, who celebrates incremental…

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SPORTS: If heroes fail as role models, put yourself in the game

– Luke 12:48 In light of the above Scripture, many would agree that among the most blessed creatures on this Earth are professional athletes. As has been noted often, they receive handsome compensation to play games, and it doesn’t really get much better than that, does it? Along with the fortune, however, comes celebrity, and from celebrity comes attention. That means there are no non-public public moments. The spotlight illuminates both the good and the bad. These thoughts come to…

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NOTIONS: Dear Lance: How ’bout beyond-the-bike immortality?

Dear Lance: I’ve got an idea. I thought you might noodle it during that 239-kilometer, Stage 17 ride from Pau to Revel. It might keep your mind off those flags people wave in your face. By way of background, you and I have much in common. Like you, I’m a cancer survivor. As in your case, a physician from the Indiana University School of Medicine figured out how to treat mine after others had botched it. Like you, I ride…

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SPORTS: NBA’s delayed-entry rule, Michelin’s move and more

So much news, so little space. Item: The NBA and its players’ association enter into a new collective bargaining agreement that will increase the age for draft eligibility to 19, or to one year after an athlete’s high school class has graduated. Reaction: Perhaps the NBA and its players’ association believed they were tossing those involved in college basketball a bone by raising the age limit. If so, it is a bone that likely will stick in the throats of…

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Marian College launches motorsports curriculum: Classes to focus on business side of racing

This fall, Marian College will begin offering a unique curriculum focused on the business of motorsports. Initially, motorsports-related classes will be offered within Marian’s sports management program, but school officials said they’d like to expand the program to offer a minor and major in motorsports management. Unlike programs at Purdue University, IUPUI and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Marian’s courses will not focus on computers and engineering. Instead, the program will instruct students in marketing, communications, sales and business management in…

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By George: Speedway owner gains clout in Formula One negotiations

There may be a silver lining to the cloud that descended over Indianapolis Motor Speedway at last month’s U.S. Grand Prix: President Tony George has emerged unscathed from a public relations standpoint and has never had more control over the Formula One race his track hosts. Michelin, the French tire maker for the 14 cars that withdrew from the race because of tire-safety concerns, has offered to refund fans’ ticket costs. That’s a $10 million to $12 million expense the…

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SPORTS: Keep F1 and its cash coming back to Speedway

I enjoy auto racing but must admit Formula One is not my cup of motor oil. On assignment for the local daily, I was at the initial U.S. Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, wrote a less-than-positive column about it, and haven’t been back since. I liked the technology and the spectacle of the passionate, flag-waving fans, but everything else I viewed with disdain. Particularly distasteful was/is the smugness that permeates the F1 atmosphere. It emanates from the series’…

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Youth sports get break: New law could cut Worker’s Comp premiums dramatically

State lawmakers scored a goal for youth sports this spring when they approved a bill that could save some clubs thousands
of dollars in present or future insurance premiums. Starting July 1, not-for-profits that have employees and pay youth coaches
part time under an independent contractor arrangement will not have to provide Worker’s Compensation benefits for those coaches.
State Sen. Murray Clark, R-Indianapolis, said he had travel teams or clubs in sports like soccer, volleyball or baseball in
mind when…

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Taking the pulse of life sciences: Experts weigh in on whether Indiana is keeping up in the economic development race

IBJ: Is Indiana gaining ground against other states in the race to grow as a life sciences hub? What are some specific benchmarks that underscore your opinion? JOHNSON: Indiana is gaining ground, but Indiana already starts on really very substantial ground. There are a lot of outside validations of that and I think it’s important for this audience to hear a couple of them because there is nothing like having people on the outside pay attention to what we’re doing…

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SPORTS: The game is on: Academics vs. big-dollar sports

Give NCAA President Myles Brand and his Task Force on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics their due. If you will pardon both the pun and the cliché, they’re going to give it the old college try. Putting the paste back into the tube won’t be easy. It will require a dramatic change in our sports culture-American in general, on campus in particular-to view intercollegiate athletics by any measure other than the one posted on the scoreboard. That is especially true…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Frick, master of megadeals, ready to dial back intensity

Attorney David Frick says Anthem Inc.’s $20.8 billion purchase of Well-Point Health Networks was the toughest deal he ever negotiated-and that’s saying something. This is the same guy who helped broker the 1983 deal selling the Indiana Pacers to Mel and Herb Simon, eliminating the risk the franchise would go elsewhere. The same guy who served as the city’s chief negotiator in the deal that brought the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis in 1984. Anthem-WellPoint was even tougher, Frick says, in…

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Ready to unify?: Danica’s impact puts IRL in driver’s seat

To nudge the idea along, executives of the Japanese automaker are becoming personally involved, marking the first time an IRL sponsor and major manufacturer has pushed this hard for unification talks. “It’s no small deal when a partner like Honda gets involved,” said Bob Basche, chairman of Millsport, a Stamford, Conn.-based sports and event marketing agency. “Not only do they supply engines [to the IRL], but Honda pumps in millions of dollars annually in sponsorship and advertising for the series.”…

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