BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com BloggingStocks http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/media/feedlogo.gif BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Is CNBC shrugging off Fox Business Network?]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/22/cnbc-apparently-not-scared-of-fox-business-network/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/22/cnbc-apparently-not-scared-of-fox-business-network/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/22/cnbc-apparently-not-scared-of-fox-business-network/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

It's not that mud-slinging has already begun between financial news network CNBC and the just-launched Fox Business Network, but that's not stopping CNBC host Donny Deutsch from taking a hard look at the newest (and well-funded) kid on the block, courtesy of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NYSE: NWS). In a recent interview with Portfolio.com, Deutsch laid out some pickings on the table, from a ruffle with conservative and feather-fluffer Ann Coulter to how he perceives the newer Fox Business Network as a competitor to the network where he already has a show -- CNBC.

Deutsch's words were kind but firm, saying that the management team in charge of production at CNBC is playing its "A game" to this day and does not plan on stopping. Well, no problem -- but the level of thinking that put CNBC where it is now is not the same level of thinking that will keep it there. Roger Ailes and Fox will see to that. Deutsch says that while Murdoch and Ailes "are not dopes," CNBC has an incredible brand and business model.

Umm, so what? That is not a plan on how it's going to compete with a new network with plenty of cash to run a better business model and become an even bigger brand. I'm not saying Fox will trump all, but harping on current success does not guarantee future success. CNBC is great for many of us (myself included), but so far, I've heard very little on competitive strategy that will stave off the Fox Business Network infection. I hope CNBC has formed one, and it's under way.

After reading this teenager language-laced interview, I hope there is more meat behind CNBC's strategy than goofy analogies and references to how great past success was. I am a fan, yes -- CNBC is a daily watch for me on television. But, I also know when to get serious when a new competitor comes to town. And Fox has come to play all nine innings with a very fresh bench.

Is CNBC shrugging off Fox Business Network? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CNBCFBCFox Business ChannelFox NetworksFoxBusinessChannelFoxNetworksGEinthenewsNews. Corp.News.Corp.Rupert MurdochRupertMurdochMon, 22 Oct 2007 13:57:00 EST<![CDATA[Rupert Murdoch to repay $50,000/month rent to News Corp.]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/10/30/rupert-murdoch-to-repay-50-000-month-rent-to-news-corp/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/10/30/rupert-murdoch-to-repay-50-000-month-rent-to-news-corp/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/10/30/rupert-murdoch-to-repay-50-000-month-rent-to-news-corp/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Ever wish you could charge your rent to your employer? That would make for a nice day for many of us come "the rent is due" time. This is apparently what News Corp. (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A) chairman, Rupert Murdoch, does with his New York $50,000/month apartment on Fifth Avenue. The rather bodacious chairman, though, is going to pay the rent back to News Corp.

While his other posh flat was being renovated, the media mogul was living in a Park Avenue apartment owned by Trump Properties with his wife, apparently needing thousands and thousands of square feet to live in. Nothing new here -- standard behavior for CEOs with golden pay packages. Still, that generally does not include charging the rent to the books of your employer.

As a News Cop. shareholder, would you be enraged to find that expenses like these were being directly charged to the books of a company where you had an ownership stake? It should. Corporate governance takes yet another beating in what continues to be company leaders squandering loads of cash and equivalents without notifying shareholders in the process. Sigh.

Murdoch's decision did not sit well with corporate-governance watchdogs, and Fortune magazine has learned that Murdoch has quietly decided to pay back the money. Aw shucks, how nice of him.

Rupert Murdoch to repay $50,000/month rent to News Corp. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ceochairmancorporate governanceCorporateGovernancefortuneNews. Corp.News.Corp.nwsnws.aRupert MurdochRupertMurdochMon, 30 Oct 2006 13:41:00 EST<![CDATA[MySpace and Yahoo! battle on the fantasy front]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/09/11/myspace-and-yahoo-battle-on-the-fantasy-front/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/09/11/myspace-and-yahoo-battle-on-the-fantasy-front/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/09/11/myspace-and-yahoo-battle-on-the-fantasy-front/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

In this post, I discussed how Yahoo! was primed to continue being a great home to its millions of customers by being a "sticky" and "relationshippy" partner, as opposed to a destination for information. In fact to this day I still find competitor Google to be more of a destination for information of all kinds, and Yahoo! to be more like a community. Although Google has made great strides to change things with personalized this and personalized that.

So is there a new game in town? You bet there is, and it's News Corp.'s MySpace.com. With Fox Sports being part of the same happy family, MySpace.com is being positioned as a home to millions of fantasy football players all over the U.S. in a challenge to Yahoo! Sports' leadership in this rather unique, nichy, and lucrative "sticky" business. With live scoring and statistics available to users of MySpace's fantasy football offering -- which cost extra at Yahoo! -- here's another example that may force Yahoo! to up the ante in its offering, like Google's Gmail did years ago when Yahoo!'s email offering featured a measly 2MB of storage.

News Corp. execs aren't being lackadaisical or lazy, they are already mingling assets under the Murdoch umbrella in an attempt to grow the fortunes of News Corp. and entrench cross-promotional properties across mediums like television and the Internet. The purchase of MySpace.com gave Murdoch's company a built-in user base of highly-desirable consumers. If it can keep them by not being a totalitarian corporate overlord, which it has not done yet so far, the future will be brighter than it has been in some time -- except for the competition.

MySpace and Yahoo! battle on the fantasy front originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>MySpace.comNews. Corp.News.Corp.Rupert MurdochRupertMurdochYahoo!YHOOMon, 11 Sep 2006 14:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Yahoo's non-conundrum on losing the MySpace.com business]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/08/09/yahoos-non-conundrum-on-losing-the-myspace-com-business/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/08/09/yahoos-non-conundrum-on-losing-the-myspace-com-business/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/08/09/yahoos-non-conundrum-on-losing-the-myspace-com-business/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

MySpace.com seems to be the hottest ticket around these days for Internet eyeballs. Specifically, the highly-touted younger eyeballs that many advertisers love to court. There are reports that Google missed the boat on purchasing MySpace.com earlier (according to this story), and shortly thereafter Rupert Murdoch beat Viacom to land the immensely-popular social networking site for $580 million. That gives News. Corp an instant presence in the online world, although it's been very careful about not transplanting its own brand and identity to MySpace.com. Even the founders are still around and are running the site and operations just like before. Smart move, Rupert.

With the just-announced partnership with Google, MySpace.com will now be replacing its generic search engine with Google search, which will most likely be a huge winner for both. Google gets its advertiser's ads in front of billions of page views, and MySpace.com gets a highly-relevant search function that will connect its customers with information just like its customers do now -- they connect themselves to one another.

Does Yahoo! fit into all this? It could have. The world's largest Internet portal lost out on its bid to supply search services to MySpace.com to rival Google. Although that was a blow to Yahoo!, it was by no means a death sentence to the company. Yahoo! continues to be the leader for Internet-focused eyeballs, garnering more visits than any other web property around. It just won't lose customers like dust in the wind, regardless of the Google/MySpace.com relationship. Sure, MySpace.com surpassed Yahoo! Mail as the most heavily-visited web destination last month (according to Hitwise). That's a problem that Yahoo! should be attacking, but it's far from a death sentence. Yahoo's varying services for customers encompass so many different types of content it'll be just fine -- if it keeps innovating to stay where it is.

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.

Yahoo's non-conundrum on losing the MySpace.com business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Aug 2006 15:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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