The tablet dream -- with its inevitable Apple (AAPL) intrigue and drumbeat of Amazon (AMZN)/Apple war -- has rekindled interest in digital publishing, providing hope for magazine and news industries pummeled mercilessly over the last decade. Already Forrester's Sarah Epps is estimating 10 million tablets to be sold within a year, which may be an ambitious number given inevitable customer BluRay/HD-DVD, VHS/Betamax confusion.
There is a lot for media companies and investors to be gleeful about these days. There was a major transaction in the space that is likely to spark additional mega and smaller mergers, and as the chart below indicates, the declining growth rates of one of the major media revenue streams, advertising, bottomed in 1Q09. Barring a double-dip recession, good times are...
Comcast (CMCSA) took an unusual step to head off regulatory concerns about its proposed co-ownership of NBC Universal by issuing a memo reiterating its "public interest" media commitments in tandem with the deal's official announcement.
The memo, authored by Comcast executive vice president David Cohen,states the company's commitment to NBCU's broadcast properties which include the NBC TV Network, owned TV stations and affiliated stations. Its commitment to provide over-the-air free television, for now, is not surprising given continuing federal regulation of the business.
Comcast, the largest domestic cable operator, is pursuing a 51% stake in NBCU to build a programming empire by combining both companies’ thriving cable networks.The new NBCU, valued at about $44 billion, will not include Comcast's cable systems.USA, CNBC , MSNBC and...
It could just be posturing, but Vivendi (VIVEF.PK) says it is in no hurry to sell its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal, which would trigger a $30 billion deal to make Comcast (CMSCA) the majority owner. Even if the transaction does not occur, there will be interesting fallout.
Vivendi is in talks to unload its minority stake to the highest bidder. That could be NBCU co-owner General Electric (GE), a third party, or the public...
Don’t be surprised if Comcast (CMCSA) arranges to sell the NBC broadcast network and its TV stations to a third part,y after announcing plans to buy controlling ownership of NBC Universalas early as next week.
When the economic hemorrhaging stops, broadcast TV stations will still be struggling to close the $3 billion-plus gap between their declining advertising revenues and new online or other digital income.
The widening gap will force some stations to go black or to merge with other local media under more liberal cross-ownership deregulation -- a life preserver that could be provided by a new FCC. Surviving broadcasters will have created and mined digital wireless connections between local consumers, marketers and content. Within five years, it is likely that the TV station business as we have known it...
It's a bad, bad time to be a money-losing newspaper. E.W. Scripps Co. (SSP) just announced that it will shut down the Rocky Mountain News after failing to find a buyer for the 150-year-old paper.
Scripps said in December that it hoped to sell the Rocky, which is published in a joint operating agreement with MediaNews Group's Denver Post. But no buyer could be found with a serious plan for turning around the paper's losses, which totaled $16 million last year.
Last week the magazine industry suffered from more cutbacks.
Thursday, the Reader's Digest Association said it will lay off about 300 people, some eight percent of its employees, it'll put employees on unpaid furloughs and suspend contributions to workers' 401(k)s. The Company publishes its eponymous Readers' Digest, Every Day with Rachael Ray, many magazines overseas, websites including Allrecipes.com, and a new magazine and organization, Purpose Driven Connection, built around Rick Warren. The company isn't shuttering any of its U.S. magazines or websites, but it is cutting back at its operations around the world.
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