what it has always done: outperform. In addition, we commit ourselves to creating the best content in our markets. Our magazines routinely dominate their industry awards ceremonies – last year,  Texas Monthly won a coveted National Magazine Award, and Emmis publications claimed more than half of the awards at the City and Regional Magazine competition. Our radio stations feature some of the industry’s most popular personalities – in 2003, Emmis people and stations were awarded three Marconi Radio Awards. And our television operations are regularly honored by journalism organizations for their news gathering and community service. In short, we provide our markets with reliable, high-quality content – content that helps us assemble the audiences our advertisers want to reach.  We then generate revenue by overallocating to sales. We give our teams well-developed strategies, clearly defined brands and solid products. We build bigger, better sales forces and put a greater emphasis on local dollars than our competitors. We hire aggressive managers, set ambitious goals and then watch our people work harder and smarter than anyone else. that could change the face of American TV and once again demonstrate that Emmis is a company that leads the way. Forty years ago, Americans began taking down their TV antennas and severing broadcasters’ direct link to television audiences. Since then, the cable companies—the middlemen who replaced us—have created more than $300 billion of value for themselves. However, changes in technology have given broadcasters the ability to provide the American public with the most popular TV channels, without the middlemen and at a more reasonable price.  We are developing an innovative model that will leverage that technology to get broadcast companies back into the game. I believe it has the potential to revolutionize the  television industry. I also believe it will add substantial value to your investment.  We also seize the right opportunities and make the most  of them. As the cost of buying radio properties has gone through the roof, we have been careful about buying. However, when we had a chance to acquire the LBJ stations in Austin, we knew it was the right fit: good stations, a tremendous heritage and a great culture, all with an opportu- nity for growth. And we’ve already built on that group’s track record – since we bought them, we’ve reformatted one sta- tion and quickly sent it to No. 1 in the market, and we’ve pushed revenues up 9 percent for the entire group. Finally, we innovate. Why has Emmis, traditionally a radio company, become the company to emulate in TV? Because we approached TV in a way it’s never been approached before. Why do we operate leading hip-hop stations in mar- kets across the nation? Because we pioneered the concept. Why have we created a new “Music with Class” format in St. Louis’ Red 104.1? Because we believe we see a new oppor- tunity. We know that successful companies don’t follow the pack. They lead it, and that’s what we’ll always do. We’ll continue to use innovation to push us forward. Meanwhile, we’ll also build and maintain the best teams, pro- duce the best media content, outhustle and outsell our com- petitors, seize the best opportunities and operate this com- pany better than any other. In other words, you can count on Emmis to continue to do what it has always done: Outperform. Thank you for your belief and investment in Emmis. We unveiled this concept at the National Association of Broadcasters meeting in April. I am proud to say that 11 other television companies joined us at that meeting to express their support for what we’re calling the Broadcasters’ Initiative, and more are signing on each week. Once again, Emmis has leveraged innovation to take a leading role in our industries. That last point – innovation – is an important one, especially for the future of Emmis, because we are planning something The year ahead Jeffrey H. Smulyan chairman & ceo emmis communications gem