This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

The battle between QVC and HSN is really about celebrity entrepreneurs.

QVC counts the likes of Joan Rivers and Marie Osmond in its stable of shills. Suzanne Somers and Susan Lucci hock their wares on HSN, which is owned by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) conglomerate.

Somewhere around the 1980s or 1990s, Rivers lost her sense of shame and began opening up about everything, including her numerous plastic surgeries. Rivers still is hysterical. Typical is a recent blog post about Passover in which she joked that people eat Matzo (unleavened bread) "Because, you pig, you inherited your mother's big, fat thighs and you should lay off the carbs for at least one day every year."

Anyway, you just gotta love Rivers. She's survived her husband's suicide, the scorn of Johnny Carson and the ridicule of celebrities on the red carpet. Granted that I won't be buying products such as the Joan Rivers Lilly of the Valley Bee Pin, which according to the QVC website "shines with orange and green epoxy enamel and cream simulated pearls as the buds."

Sounds lovely, no?

Continue reading Battle of the Brands: QVC vs. HSN (Joan Rivers vs. Suzanne Somers)

Battle of the Brands: QVC vs. HSN (Joan Rivers vs. Suzanne Somers) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barry Diller has won his dispute with John Malone. Malone's Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) owns a a large piece of the company that Diller runs, IAC/Interactive (NASDAQ: IACI). Diller has the right to vote those shares under a long-standing agreement.

Diller has decided to break IACI into five companies because the businesses in the firm do not have significant relationships to one another. Malone wanted to block the break-up and filed suit in court.

According to MarketWatch, "Vice Chancellor Stephen Lamb ruled Friday that "Liberty has failed to demonstrate that Diller has breached or threatened to breach any contractual duty he owes to Liberty," according to Lamb's 78-page opinion."

Diller can now complete his plans.

That leaves open the question of whether IACI is worth more in pieces than it is as a conglomerate. The firm's stock trades at $20, near its 52-week low and down from the period high of over $39. Some of the company's divisions, especially Lending Tree and HSN had tough years in 2007. These would get very low valuations as independent operations and might not make up for the value of more attractive operations like Ask.com

Diller may have gotten his way, but it is not clear that it will help shareholders.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Barry Diller wins (IACI) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investment bank Sifel Nicalous believes that IAC/Interactive (NASDAQ: IACI) may sell one of its largest units, Home Shopping Network to Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA), a company controlled by John Malone. It would allow IACI to become an almost purely internet company.

Such a sale would transform the company. Retail operations which is mainly HSN accounted for $787 million of IACI's $1.595 billion in revenue last quarter. The balance was from online businesses including Lending Tree, Ask.com, and Match.com. While HSN was half of the company's revenue, its was only 43% of operating profit.

IACI's chairman Barry Diller would be gambling that a pure internet play would be valued more highly by the stock market than a hybrid firm with a large retail component.

While Diller may be right, he would end up with an only operation much smaller than properties like MSN and AOL, and that lack of scale could worry investors.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

IAC/Interactive could sell HSN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jessica Vascellaro of the Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that the Home Shopping Network HSN is ready to announce a deal with Satellite-TV operator EchoStar Communications Corp (NASDAQ: DISH) to allow its subscribers to buy merchandise through their remote controls rather than making a phone call.

The deal with Echostar, which has 12 million subscribers, is expected to be fully launched nationwide in a few weeks. HSN, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) hopes to offer the "Shop By Remote" service through other satellite and cable operators in the future.

A few years ago, a similar concept by HSN's rival, QVC, owned by Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ: LINTA), launched an interactive TV shopping service in the .

Analysts believe it could be years before this concept takes off. I know the technology already exists on current set-top boxes. On my set-top box for Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), I could order movies and have them charged to my monthly bill, without taking out my wallet - without even getting up.

I believe this is going to be the standard format for making purchases in today's world. With the development of technology, people will use less "paper money" on a daily basis. My handy ATM card can swipe for everything and even give me cash if I really needed it from millions of machines around the globe. My job pays through direct deposit and I have most of my bills paid automatically on certain dates.

While I can't stand the HSN or its competitors, I think they're finally reaching out to the younger generation's need for instant gratification and their impulsive shopping habits. Think of everything you could buy from your couch without even calling someone! Now we just have to wait for a teleportation device to be made and we'll never have to see the delivery man again!

What do you think? If you had the ability to use this service, would you?

Coming Soon: 'Shop By Remote' for HSN inspires more lazy people to buy on demand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 May 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barry Diller, you surprised me originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.