Did you ever wonder why fierce battles take place within the broadcast crowd? Does the margin in your business stack up with that of broadcasting? Yes, the Internet is siphoning away chunks of the free TV audience according to the generally reliable Paul Kagan organization. "Advertising sales in the broadcast network upfront ad sales market fell 0.4% in Spring, the second consecutive annual decline. Despite those woes and more, top broadcast TV stations still achieve breath-taking profit margins." The Kagan Research newsletter Broadcast Investor: Deals and Finance calculates that TV stations owned by the big four broadcast TV networks generated cash flow profit margins of 46%, as the accompanying table indicates. For the whole broadcast TV station industry, the rate stands at 41%-well above most other media sectors. Cash flow margin measures core profitability from operations expressed as a percentage of net sales. Not bad for a dying business. kagan1.jpg _Dale Cripps