Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
In the end, money talked. News Corp. earned the votes needed to win control of Dow Jones & Co. after a key Bancroft trust changed its mind and decided to accept the company’s $60/share offer, reported The Wall Street Journal. Part of the deal calls for a Bancroft family member to join the News Corp. board of directors to help insure Dow Jones’s journalistic independence. Check out the Journal’s website for more coverage.
Let me just say, it will be VERY interesting to see what happens to the perspective of the WSJ going forward. Read your paper with care folks. Perhaps this is an old wives’ tale somewhere but Always be wary of the man who wants to own all media outlets.
Changes in Dow Jones management “would not be surprising,” writes Richard Siklos. Buying Dow Jones could set the stage for the eventual move of Rupert Murdoch’s son James to the United States to oversee News Corp.’s print, television and online businesses, say company insiders. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/business/media/01murdoch.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 8/1)
It appears the Republican candidates are not quite ready to jump into the YouTube debate format after all. To date only three candidates – Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson – have committed to the Sept. 17 CNN/YouTube event while Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have already begged off. The Billiam the Snowman clip created by Minnesota twentysomethings Nathan and Greg Hamel has become the focus of a backlash against the “silliness” of using user-generated video to pose questions to men who fancy themselves presidential. Republican internet consultants are worried candidates’ reluctance to play in this space will create a new digital divide the party can ill-afford.
The Republican party ladies and gentleman. . . To be clear, I am neither Democrat nor Republican because of ill feelings towards the bi-partisan political system. That said, this is one of the most pathetic excuses I’ve ever heard. This is sord of like that excuse you tried to use on your parents in high school to get out of doing trivial labor of any sort.
The Disney Channel’s net, which is not supported by ads, beat out all basic-cable competitors with an average 2.99 million viewers and solid delivery of its core demographics during the month of July, Nielsen said. In the ad-supported space, USA Network, averaging 2.58 million viewers, enjoyed its sixth monthly prime-time win of the year. (Mediaweek 7/31)
With lackluster ratings on NBC the last two years, the NHL is reportedly now in talks with ESPN for the 2008-09 season, according to online publication SportsBusiness Journal. NBC posted a 0.9 ratings household average during the 2005-06 season and a 1.0 for 2006-07. (The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 8/1)
With a tip of the hat to cult favorite “The Twilight Zone,” ABC this month will debut “Masters of Science Fiction.” The series, adaptations of short stories by sci-fi icons such as Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison, will be narrated by Stephen Hawking. (The Washington Post/Associated Press 7/31)
Discovery Communications plans to acquire Treehugger.com, a companion Web site to its upcoming Planet Green cable network, for about $10 million. The deal aims to build on the cultural movement toward environmentally friendly personal and business practices. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012007/business/discovery_buys_green_business_peter_lauria.htm 8/1)
FOX will premiere its next musical reality show The Next Great American Band (wt) with a special two-hour presentation on October 19 at 8p. Bands of all types will audition and judges will select 10 semifinalists who will perform weekly in front of a live studio audience. Much like the format of American Idol, viewers will vote for their favorite bands, narrowing the field down to the ultimate winner which will receive a recording contract with 19 Recordings.
Cable networks are alive and well, according to a new study from SNL Kagan. Ad revenue rose 9% last year while total revenue climbed 12% and cash flow was up 13%, Kagan reports. The new research shows that most of the growth is coming from networks owned by the major cable players, such as NBC, Time Warner and Viacom. (The Hollywood Reporter 8/1)
Time Warner reported Wednesday that second-quarter profit rose 5.2% to $1.07 billion. Part of the bullish news can be attributed to the New York-based company’s cable operations, whose revenue rose 59% during the period. (The Washington Post/Reuters 8/1)
Time Warner’s second-quarter profit gained 5.2%, as surging cable-television revenue outweighed a drop in sales at AOL. “The revenues disappointed for all divisions except cable,” says one analyst. Magazine unit Time Inc. has cut about 900 jobs in 1 1/2 years to boost earnings. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVfrLfsK_kHM 8/1)
Barry Diller says a weak concert schedule is responsible for disappointing results at the Ticketmaster unit of his IAC/InterActiveCorp. The company is “dependent on selling concert tickets,” he says. IAC’s LendingTree and HSN are seeing “substantial layoffs” in order to cut costs. (http://www.thestreet.com/s/heat-stays-on-iacinteractivecorp/newsanalysis/technet/10371364.html 7/31)
Rainbow Media’s VOD service Sportskool announced two new instructional on demand series. “Football with Doug Flutie” offers step-by-step instructions on quarterbacking. “Baseball with Harold Reynolds” offers tips on playing both infield and outfield defense. Sportskool programming is currently in over 23 million digital cable homes.
Cox has selected Infinera to build its 12,000-mile, coast-to-coast national transport network. The system will support the cable company’s voice, video, data and wireless services for residential and business customers. (Converge! Network Digest 7/31)
AT&T announced Tuesday that it would invest $350 million in North Carolina over the next several years to create a fiber-optic infrastructure to deliver TV programming over phone lines. The company did not announce when programming would be available or what the service would cost. (The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) 8/1)
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