Continue reading MLB teams up with the NHL to sell online video package

MLB teams up with the NHL to sell online video package originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Globecomm Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: GCOM), provider of satellite-based communications infrastructure, including both hardware and software, hit a high for the year on 15 October, closing at $16.04, up $0.91 for the day. The rise in stock price comes on the heels of two recent contract awards. Globecomm has joined with the National Hockey League (NHL) to provide streaming feeds of up to 30 simultaneous games to subscribers of NHL's Center Ice package. In a completely different venue, Globecomm also won a contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to build a networked prototype so that all weather-related information, particularly information on hazardous weather, can be merged into one location.

As a results of these contracts, and the acquisition of Global Sat earlier in the year, Globecomm posted a month ago record revenue for both fiscal 4Q 2007 as well as for FY 2007. For the fiscal 4Q, Globecomm posted revenues of 49.2 million, an increase of 38%. Revenue is divided into 2 segments: infrastructure solutions revenue, which was up 29%, and service revenue, which increased 77%. The results are the same for FY 2007. Revenue increased 20% to $150.7 million, with service revenue increasing over 28%.

CFO David Herschberg predicts that Globecomm will post record revenues of $190-$200 million in FY 2008, with diluted EPS of $0.70. Such rsults are entirely possible. Globecomm won part of a 5 year, $5 billion US Army telecommunications contract, as well as a NATO contract to develop a friendly-forces tracing system to prevent friendly-fir deaths. Globecomm has been in Asia constructing a $26 million media processing center. Although on a much smaller scale, Globecomm is beginning to rebuild the telecommunications infrastructure in Afghanistan, and bring wireless communications to rural Alaska.

The stock opened the year trading at $8.85 and is on its way to doubling in 10 months, with no signs of slowing down. In a few months, the current share price of $16 may seem like a real bargain.

Globecomm Systems (GCOM) reaches high for the year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) NBC is thanking its lucky stars that the New York Rangers are in the National Hockey League playoffs as the month of May dawns. Otherwise, its ratings would probably be as pathetic as national numbers usually garnered by rodeo, lacrosse or the network's Thanksgiving Day tape dog show.

NBC yesterday saw a 44 percent surge in large-market Nielsen ratings for the double-overtime New York Rangers-Buffalo Sabres playoff game, won by the Rangers 2-1. NBC drew viewers in 1.3 percent of homes in the 56 largest U.S. media markets, which encompasses about two-thirds of the 111.4 million U.S. households with televisions. The game lasted more than four hours, ending at 6:15 pm Eastern Time, thus entering near-prime hours in the East.

Last year's comparable telecast on NBC, a contest between Anaheim and Colorado drew 0.9 percent of the same potential audience. Just to show how critical the New York market is, NBC's national coverage of the San Jose-Detroit game on Saturday had a 1.0 large-market rating, down 9.1 percent from coverage of a New Jersey-Carolina game a year ago.

Clearly, it's a case of as far as the Rangers go in these Stanley Cup playoffs, so goes the NHL's national television ratings on NBC, which has a revenue-sharing agreement with the league. Unlike other sports, the network pays the league zero dollars for rights to broadcast its games. Nonetheless, it's amazing that the sport is broadcast on network television at all.

Unfortunately for NBC, the ratings bump may not last.

The Rangers trail Buffalo two games to one and face an uphill battle to make it to the finals. Another big market team, the Detroit Red Wings, is in the playoffs as well, but chances are remote that they will wind up facing one another.

Why NBC is rooting for the Rangers in NHL playoffs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I know that most of the readers of BloggingStocks are American and therefore may not fully understand my (or any other Canadian's, for that matter) excitement to the news that the National Hockey League signed a content and advertising partnership with Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube for the 2006-2007 season. I mean, the NHL would actually provide daily short-form video content to YouTube starting this month. This is HUGE!

You see, while Americans have baseball, basketball and football, Canada has one national sports (and don't let anyone tell you it's Lacrosse) -- Hockey. Canadians live by it. Canada's culture is largely based on hockey. If you've seen our (funny) money or other national symbols, you would understand. So no wonder that when young (sort of) Canadian up-starters who have made it big want to realize a dream, they buy a hockey team. Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks, but Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) CEO, Jim Balsillie, bought the Pitsburgh Penguins (back in the beginning of October).

I know there are many hockey fans in the U.S., especially in those cities of the original six, and probably many more in the expansion cities. Therefore, my guess is that while I know for a fact that this YouTube deal with the NHL is going to be very popular up here, it would probably have its American fans as well.

Hopefully, this would be beneficial to both: YouTube gaining revenue while the NHL gets more exposure in the U.S. Seriously, watching a beauty breakaway goal is unmatched (and for the youngsters, hockey fights would be just as fun).

So for all those who were concerned on how Google was planning to monetize YouTube and deal with copyrights issue, here's one way to deal with both at the same time. Kudos!

[Photo TKnoxB]

Google's YouTube signs a deal with NHL and I'm singing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.