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Nancy Has a Hot Date

How can I tell? Because she’s doing this:

Red Bull For All! (Who Work at D Magazine.)

I would like to announce a “material connection” between D Magazine and Red Bull. The new FTC rules on freebies for bloggers are very strict, and I wish to remain on the right side of the law [cough, cough]. So here’s the deal: moments ago, the Red Bull mini-fridge you see pictured was installed in our kitchen. It joins the ranks of the KitchenAid (toast), the Keurig (coffee), and, my favorite, the Hoshizaki (crushed ice and water). I am told the Red Bull mini-fridge will be stocked with free Red Bull — thereby giving rise to our “material connection.” I myself cannot drink caffeinated beverages, per doctor’s orders. And even if I could, I would not choose to drink Red Bull, on account of I think it tastes like cough syrup (which I have consumed in the past for recreational purposes, if you must know, but only because the brand I had on hand during that particular road trip had codeine in it, which Red Bull does not). Point is, though, someone who works for our company might in the future blog something that casts Red Bull in a favorable light. And I just wanted you to know that that person cannot be trusted. Because he’ll be high on free Red Bull. (I’m looking at you, Zac.)

Williams: Obama War on FOX News is “Un-American”

You might call journalist Juan Williams the man in the middle. A correspondent for both the FOX News Channel and National Public Radio, he’s said to be distrusted by some at NPR because of the Fox connection. And he says while he’s seen by black viewers as “the conservative on Fox,” white viewers consider him the network’s liberal. But, “I’m not beholden to any one ideology,” Williams said yesterday during a luncheon Q&A at the Belo Mansion. The problem is that “nobody in Washington ever acknowledges that the other side is right, because they’re all getting paid by people to stay on one side of the fence. So we have a fragmented media world.” The Belo audience was an eclectic bunch–Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, local GOP honcho Jonathan Neerman–and they got their money’s worth from Williams (pictured in this photo by Lisa A. Street). Answering questions posed by John Goodman, president and CEO of the right-leaning National Center for Policy Analysis, the veteran correspondent took on the Obama White House, CNN, teachers unions, and Republicans who dragged their feet in the health care debate. Jump for the highlights.

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How Much Will Ed Bailey Make When He Sells 63 McDonald’s?

You, of course, know who Ed Bailey is. He owns the Patrizio restaurants and the new Bailey’s Prime Plus. He’s also one of the biggest McDonald’s franchisees in the country — for now. Bailey is set to sell his 63 restaurants, probably by year’s end. Which got us to wondering what 63 McDonald’s might be worth. I asked someone who’d know. Here’s his back-of-the-envelope ciphering:

These types of franchises are typically valued at 5 to 6 times EBITDA. A McDonald’s unit will gross around $2.2. This is huge volume. The average sale per person is $3, and about 88 percent of that is the cost of sale. So 12 percent of $3 is 36 cents. That’s EBITDA per customer. 2.2 million divided 3 equals 733,333 customers per year. 733,333 times 36 cents gives you EBITDA of $264,000. $264,000 times 5 equals $1,320,000. Obviously there are many other factors, but $1.3 million is probably very close.

Let’s round up, then, and call it $80 million. To Ed Bailey, we say: nice.

Correction: The answer was correct, but the math was a bit hinky when I first posted this; it has been corrected.

Pegasus News to Relaunch With New Name Dec. 1

The managing editor of Pegasus News, Sarah Blaskovich, told me last night that the much-anticipated relaunch of Pegasus News will happen by December 1. She said the site’s staff is furiously working to get the new design up and running, and to expect a soft launch shortly before that date.

The new look and new features will also come with an entirely new name. She wouldn’t tell me what that was, but indicated that it will be something less Dallas-centric than “Pegasus.” Gap Broadcasting purchased the site in January, and their plan is to introduce sites like Pegasus into markets where they already have radio stations (Gap owns 116 around the country). The new name will be something that can be plugged into any market. I asked Sarah if they felt any consternation at having to give up on any brand power that “Pegasus” has gained in the last three years, and she said they do feel like they’ll be starting over in Dallas from that standpoint.

Dallas is by far the largest city on Gap’s map. Pegasus founder Mike Orren has previously said that Shreveport, Tyler, and Yakima (Washington), would be the first of the new markets. Staff in Shreveport has already been hired, and it will be the first to come with the relaunch, according to Sarah. Tyler will be next.

My question: Does a small market like Tyler need a map of drink specials?

David Dewhurst Explains Texas Budget Deficit Was Not a Budget Deficit If You Look at It Cross-Eyed

Yesterday, the Lt. Governor, whose position is referred to in Austin as “Light Guv,” showed that the appellation is more accurate than originally thought. In an Austin American-Statesman op-ed, he wrote:

So it’s simply political fiction that stimulus dollars were necessary to balance our budget.

That’s funny. So funny that a few hours later the newspaper’s editors felt compelled to run a post correcting Dewhurst’s claim.  To make it even funnier, the truth was spelled out in no uncertain terms by the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee in the Fort Worth Business Press on Monday:

“In order to balance the budget this biennium, which is $182 billion, we used $14 billion in federal stimulus money to balance it,” said State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. “We’re not expecting a similar amount of similar money to be available in the next two years because the federal government just doesn’t have it. So, assuming that’s true, you go into the next session with a $14 billion hole.”

Dewhurst, of course, is planning to run for Kay Hutchison’s Senate seat. Part of the preparation, apparently, is to grow his nose a little longer. (Thanks to the FrontBurnervian who sent the link.)

Bill Lively: No ‘Margin of Failure’ for Super Bowl XLV Fund Raising

Bill Lively, CEO of the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, told a gathering of Dallas bloggers at Hully & Mo last evening that there’s no “margin of failure” when it comes to the committee’s need to raise $30 million for North Texas’ first crack at the big game in February 2011. This was after he joked that he’d need to buy a gun and shoot himself if the effort falls short of its goal.

Lively acknowledged that the committee’s fund-raising efforts have recently required some “course correction” – changing their tactics, getting “a little more aggressive” – in this difficult economy. He said they’re still ahead of where they’d hoped to be at this point, but could easily fall off the pace within two weeks if they don’t keep pushing. North Texas leaders are hoping to put on the biggest, best Super Bowl ever, and so they’ve set that big $30 million goal. They were aiming to bring in half of that through $1 million sponsorships — so far they have 10.

When I asked him if there’s some aspect of the committee’s grand plans that might be scaled back if it doesn’t look like they’ll raise all that money, Lively said flatly “We’ve got to raise the money we’re committed to raise, to meet the bid expectations.”

Leading Off (10/22/09)

1. Last week, I told you about students who could not finish their driver’s ed. This week, I bring you young children who can’t pass the fifth grade. It’s a sad tale, really. But you know what? It’s all perfectly fine. How do I know?

“It obviously makes it more of a challenge, there is no question – but it can be done,” said Dallas ISD spokesman Jon Dahlander. “We have students who come in the ninth grade who don’t speak a word of English, and they have gone on to graduate as valedictorians of their schools and gotten scholarships at some of the top universities.”

Right. Because the children who come in not speaking English and then take over the world are the same children who are currently unable to pass fifth grade.

2. Speaking of sad tales, check out this story about a 70-year-old woman who lost her dog. A family found a dog that looks a lot like the lost one and adopted him. Now the family won’t give him to the senior citizen. And now the senior citizen has dreams that the family will one day call and let her look at the dog to see if he’s hers, which he is. She can tell by looking at a picture of his face. A mother knows her child.

3. First we went green at home. Then we got green at work. Now, the skies are greening up, at least if Southwest has something to say about it. The company has found a way to cut 472 pounds from a plane, thus making it more efficient.
I don’t know. I like green. I think it’s good. But let’s see how bad we all really are at math: you cut 472 pounds from a plane. The plane flies 30,000 feet in the air. How quickly does this equate to me missing those extra pounds? (Sorry to confuse you all. What I was trying to say was: how can you cut that many pounds from a plane without it affecting something? I feel like I would be worrying about this during the flight. I was trying to connect it to the first item. It didn’t work. Sorry.)