Nws posts
FeedPosted Nov 25th 2009 8:30AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), New York Times'A' (NYT), News Corp'B' (NWS), Initial public offerings
Facebook is implementing a new stock structure to make sure the founders retain control, immediately causing rumors about an impending initial public offering. Why would Facebook need Class A and Class B shares otherwise? Under the new structure, which is similar to Google's (GOOG), Mark Zuckerberg and other early entrants wouldn't have to worry about yielding the floor to outsiders when if the company goes public.
The stock structure was adopted to ensure that existing shareholders keep control on voting issues, according to Facebook statement. No details were given as to who the winners are in this arrangement, but a Wall Street Journal report says that, according to its sources, all current shareholders would be converted to Class B shares, which carry 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares.
Continue reading New Facebook share structure hints at IPO
Posted Nov 23rd 2009 11:00AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Gannett Co (GCI), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
Bundling is beautiful for newspapers. Since April 1, 2009, new rules for counting circulation have turned some newspapers from losing to gaining, even in a market where the print community is getting thrashed. Instead of selling more copies every day, these publications are counting online visits, as long as they are from paying subscribers – for either protected portions of the website or digital replica editions.
The new auditing standards, which affect USA Today, a Gannet (GCI) property, and News Corp's (NWS) Wall Street Journal, among others, often allow newspapers that bundle print and digital editions to count the subscriber twice. According to a report by the Associated Press, the new rule is preventing circulation from looking as bad as it really may be.
Continue reading Looser auditing rules keeping some newspaper heads above water
Posted Nov 23rd 2009 9:00AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
Often, we confuse winning with being the best. This isn't always the case. There are plenty of ways to get ahead when you don't have the top product on the market. The smoke-filled backroom meetings may be a thing of the past, but the net effect lingers. This is exactly what went down, according to a Reuters report, when Microsoft (MSFT) had a chat with News Corp (NWS).
Microsoft suggested a relationship with News Corp which would involve the latter's yanking its news sites from Google (GOOG) ... for a fee, of course. This would cost the search engine giant -- which is also a news aggregation giant -- access to some hefty publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Sun and the New York Post.
Continue reading Microsoft and News Corp talk about pushing Google aside
Posted Nov 18th 2009 10:20AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Technology
Once upon a time, Mac users could brag they were much safer from malicious electronic attacks. After all, in the days before Google (GOOG), when Microsoft (MSFT) was the only uber-player in town, Windows was the perpetual malware target. Phishers, however, aren't discriminating; they're just looking for an account to plunge. So, both Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft users are threatened. Virus writers do tend to focus on the Windows operating system, which owns 90% of the OS market, but phishers are platform independent.
Phishing involves attempts to get a user to reveal information about their accounts. Once the soon-to-be victim clicks that link or fills out a form, the "transaction" is complete -- no operating system interaction necessary. As a result, there really isn't any advantage to using a Mac over a PC.
Continue reading Apple's Macs aren't safe from phishing attacks
Posted Nov 12th 2009 6:00PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World, Marvel Entertainment (MVL)
Disney (DIS), the media company behind Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear, and whose colleagues in the industry include CBS (CBS), General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, News Corp. (NWS), Sony Corporation (SNE), Time Warner (TWX), and Viacom (VIA), reported results for Q4 and the full fiscal year on Thursday after the bell. While the bottom line came in ahead of expectations, I have to say that the release was disappointing to this shareholder.
Earnings on an adjusted basis for the quarter came in at 46 cents per share, higher than the number predicted by analysts. Unfortunately, as I go through the data, I don't think I'm too comforted by such income performance.
Continue reading Disney's Q4: Bob Iger beats Wall Street, but he needs a better plan for the studio
Posted Nov 11th 2009 9:00AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Marvel Entertainment (MVL)
Disney (DIS), a media business that competes with Viacom (VIA), CBS (CBS), News Corp. (NWS), and General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, will be talking up its fourth-quarter numbers on Thursday after the bell. Are you a shareholder? If so, are you excited? Well, don't get too excited, because we might not be getting any growth, even if the Mouse beats on the bottom line. According to Earnings.com, the call is for 40 cents per share versus the 43 cents per share made in the comparable period.
You know what, though? For the most part, I'm not so concerned with exactly how much Disney makes this quarter. I'm a shareholder, and I want to see management at least come in at the estimate, of course, but I'll be more interested in the conference call. Way more interested this time around, in fact.
Continue reading Disney to report earnings Thursday: Should investors be excited?
Posted Nov 9th 2009 10:30AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Internet, Google (GOOG), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World, Technology
For News Corp. (NWS), MySpace is the mistake that keeps on costing. It's bad enough that Murdoch's empire paid $500 million for the social networking platform shortly before Facebook knocked it from the premier spot in the social media beauty pageant, but now we also know that News Corp. has committed $350 million to office space for MySpace that will never be used.
News Corp is shelling out more than $1 million a month for 420,000 square feet in Playa Vista, near Los Angeles International Airport. The deal was signed in August 2008 by Peter Levinsohn, former president of the Fox Interactive Media Unit. At the time, he issued a chest-puffing memo claiming it was "the single biggest real-estate transaction in Los Angeles in the last 25 years." Fortunately, he didn't mix the word "genius" in there at all.
Continue reading News Corp's MySpace mistakes pile up
Posted Nov 7th 2009 3:40PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), Clorox Co (CLX), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Dean Foods (DF), News Corp'B' (NWS), Garmin Ltd (GRMN), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
Continue reading Earnings highlights: CBS, Comcast, News Corp., Time Warner, UBS, Viacom ...
Posted Nov 6th 2009 4:20PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Television, General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World

Shares of
CBS (NYSE:
CBS) are no longer rolling around in the pits of equity hell. Do you recall when they were trading around $3 per share? Nasty time it was. Amazingly, as I write this, CBS is hovering near a 52-week high. They are well over $12 in value.
Yet, when I look at the latest earnings report, I don't feel as upbeat as the market. According to the press release (the link goes to a .pdf file), revenues were flat for the third quarter and adjusted income dropped to 25 cents per share from the year-ago figure of 39 cents per share.
Continue reading CBS challenged in Q3, waiting for better advertising climate
Posted Nov 6th 2009 9:40AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, NYSE Euronext (NYX), News Corp'B' (NWS), Initial public offerings
The IPO market has been pretty slow for the past two years due to the effects of a subprime mortgage crisis that turned into a credit crisis that turned into a worldwide financial crisis and recession. Nonetheless, two companies made their debuts Thursday -- one on the NYSE (NYSE: NYX), the other on the NASDAQ -- and they nailed it. Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H) gave its investors a 12% gain on its first Big Board trading day, and Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM) switched those digits, jumping 21% in its first day of trading.
Hyatt Hotels overcame two major concerns. The worldwide travel market slump has been tough on hotel companies, and Hyatt has been subject to the same forces as everyone else. Also, investors may have been worried about infighting among the founder's heirs (the Pritzker family), but the double-digit price increase suggests that investors don't foresee Bancroft-style squabbles screwing investors -- or, if you don't like Dow Jones, now a part of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS), Playboy (NYSE: PLA) makes the same point.
Continue reading Hyatt and Ancestry.com IPOs: Beginners' luck?
Posted Nov 5th 2009 8:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), the big media conglomerate that competes with Disney (NYSE: DIS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, issued Q1 data on Wednesday after regular trading was over. Revenues declined 4%, but earnings per share went up 10% to 22 cents. According to Bloomberg, that was enough to beat analysts by four pennies.
That's pretty decent for the company, but there are a couple of spots in need of serious help. It goes without saying that the newspaper industry is having a rough time, so it's not so hard to understand why the news groups experienced a significant decline in operating income.
Continue reading News Corp. beats forecasts, but television business is weak
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 2:20PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), News Corp'B' (NWS), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Media World
Viacom (NYSE:
VIA), a content player in competition with
News Corp. (NASDAQ:
NWS),
Time Warner (NYSE:
TWX),
Sony (NYSE:
SNE), and
General Electric's (NYSE:
GE) NBC Universal, issued
Q3 numbers today. If we had a different market on our hands, I think the stock would have reacted better to the news. Revenues were down 3%, but adjusted income rose 25% to 69 cents per share. According to
Bloomberg, the bottom line came in well ahead of estimates, which were pegged at 57 cents per share.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, the company's A shares are down slightly as I write this by about 0.6%, and the B shares are just about flat. Like I say, if the broader indexes were in an uptrend this afternoon, we probably would have seen a pop in the stock.
Continue reading Viacom does well in Q3, but there is still work to be done
Posted Oct 30th 2009 11:45AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), News Corp'B' (NWS), Technology
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) makes it easier to search for websites, e-mail messages, passages from books and videos. Where you haven't heard much about Google's search capabilities -- or Google in general -- is the music business.
But, that's about to change. On Wednesday, the search giant announced that it was partnering with music services such as Pandora, Lala, News Corp's (NASDAQ: NWS) MySpace, and Rhapsody by RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) to help users find, listen to and ultimately buy music on the web.
Continue reading Google wants eardrums, not just eyeballs
Posted Oct 28th 2009 12:30PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Industry, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy
It was still a good idea for News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) to buy MySpace.com over fours years ago for a little more than half a billion. The social media network still brings in decent ad revenues, even though it is out of the popular fad culture of social media. That space is now owned by Facebook and Twitter. But then MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta says that his company is "fundamentally different" than Facebook -- as in a special experience providing entertainment content -- those words could come back to haunt him.
As will words like "I really don't view Facebook as a competitor." While it's true that Facebook and MySpace go after two types of online social interaction, they are both vying for many of the same customers in a large crossover audience. Teens, 20-somethings, and others are very fickle and many use both social networks. The two may have different goals, but they are competitors.
Continue reading MySpace focuses on social entertainment, says Facebook not a competitor
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