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To: JWC who wrote (13718)	12/31/1998 10:49:00 AM
From: Andrew H	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 44908

Interesting article on Dick Clark PMed to me: Dick Clark to Ring in New Year At Times Square (for the 27th Time) 7.23 a.m. ET (1223 GMT) December 31, 1998 NEW YORK — At the stroke of midnight, Dick Clark will be a bit older — and at least another $1 million richer. The legendary pioneer of pop TV, still going strong and looking great at 69, hosts his 27th consecutive Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve show live from Times Square. But he's much more than a one-day wonder and his entertainment empire — reaching into radio, television production, restaurants, real estate and corporate trade shows — will reap several million dollars in fees and royalty income for the popular special. The annual New Year's Eve special he owns and sells around the world is just the tip of Clark's $250-million iceberg. His entertainment production company — Dick Clark Productions — generates revenue of more than $86 million a year. His growing restaurant chain is showing profits gains of 31 percent in each of the last two years. And that's not all. Clark is riding the crest of a boom in radio. His United Stations Radio Networks, which syndicates talk shows and music to nearly 2,300 radio stations, is in big demand. Radio station consolidations this past year have driven up prices and fees to new highs for syndicated programming, with a handful of major providers, such as United Stations, earning profits near the $200 million mark this year. Clark's first love is radio, where he started in 1950 as a disk jockey at a small Pennsylvania station, and worked his way up to a bigger station in Philadelphia, WFIL. It was there he began his ascent into Rock and Roll history — starting as host in 1952 of "American Bandstand." The after-school dance show, which aired for 37 years, made Clark rich before he was 30. While he was hosting the runaway hit, and making and breaking careers of singers, he quietly started up music publishing companies and record manufacturers, which controlled at least one of every four songs played on "American Bandstand." ABC, which televised the national dance show, forced him to sell the music assets in 1970, but it didn't stop him from plowing his profits into other ventures, ranging from California real estate deals, such as 80 acres of Malibu ocean front, to television producing. His richest asset is Dick Clark Productions, which posted record revenue in its fiscal year ending in June of $86.2 million, with profit of $8.2 million, up sharply from $66.2 million in revenue, and profit of $6.5 million a year earlier. The company has no debt borrowings and ended with $39.3 million in cash on hand. Among deals driving Clark's banner year in TV were 19 series, movies and specials put together for TNN, Fox, NBC, CBS and UPN. He also launched a new game show for the Disney channel for next year. Clark is opening his 10th restaurant next year in a new theme park outside Chicago. The eateries, called American Bandstand Grill and American Bandstand Diner, have been bucking the trend of most theme restaurants, and account for about 40 percent of the revenue of Dick Clark Productions. Clark took his entertainment company public in 1987 at $6.50 a share. He and his long-time wife, Karen, 57, together controlled 90 percent of the company stock. The stock closed yesterday unchanged at 14 1/4. Clark did have a setback last spring when he was drawn into a deceptive-sales-practices scandal with announcer Ed McMahon. They were the star pitchmen for magazine sweepstakes from American Family Publishers, which agreed to pay $50,000 each to 30 states to settle various charges. Clark has also made a small fortune as an endorser, starting with Clearasil in the 1950s on his "American Bandstand" pulpit. Currently he's endorsing champagne and seniors' insurance.