media posts
FeedPosted Jun 22nd 2010 3:30PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Goldman Sachs Group (GS)
The Wall Street Journal has been all over Goldman Sachs (
GS) during the past couple of days. First the firm was
given an extension to respond to the SEC's lawsuit involving disclosures concerning a collaterlized debt obligation related to subprime mortgages. The previous deadline for a response was Monday, but U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones gave GS until July 19 to answer the SEC. According to the SEC, GS did not tell investors that Paulson & Co. helped select the underlying portfolio for a hedge fund.
Continue reading Goldman Sachs Looking at an Image Makeover?
Posted Mar 19th 2010 12:10PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Media World
Now if you blame the media, someone else will have to share in the losses.
Insurance company Aviva (AV) is taking the side of camera-wielding, microphone-thrusting pushy press folks with a new form of protection that will cover everything from electronics to foot-in-mouth syndrome (i.e., liability). The insurance product will be available to a variety of companies, including both online and print publishers, broadcasters, photographers and marketing and advertising companies. So, if you're responsible for the news, the ads or the process of putting them in front of eyeballs, Aviva probably has you in mind.
Continue reading New Insurance Product Protects Media
Posted Feb 10th 2010 3:45PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World, Technology

As
Facebook passes the 400 million user threshold, a flight from social media is beginning to take shape. A growing number of users are reconsidering the sharing (and oversharing) of life details. Reasons vary -- from seeing their networks swell from just close friends to distant connections and strangers to worries over where their personal information can wind up. More than anything else, they say they want to return to "real life."
Depending on how this shakes out, the trend could force
social media company employees to get back to real life as well. If the backlash gains momentum, it could cost these companies traffic, which translates to a revenue hit and, in the extreme, viability. Yet, if the likes of
Twitter,
LinkedIn and Facebook can weather the storm, they will come out the other side stronger than they are now.
Continue reading Social Media Backlash?
Posted Feb 7th 2010 10:20AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), New York Times'A' (NYT), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World, Technology
How are readers finding the news? Well, increasingly, the answer is Facebook. The social networking site, which boasts well over 350 million registered users, is now the fourth largest referral source of traffic to online news destinations. Almost a year ago, only 0.5% of traffic to news and media sites came from Facebook. Today, that level is 3.5%, according to data from Web analytics firm Experian Hitwise.
Only Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO) and MSN (MSFT) send more traffic to news sites. Google News, a subset of the search engine giant, failed to keep pace with Facebook, despite the fact that it exists specifically to send Internet users to media outlets. Only 1.39% of referrals came from this source.
Continue reading Facebook Grows as a Source for News
Posted Jan 27th 2010 11:20AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, New York Times'A' (NYT), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
The recent announcement by the New York Times (NYT) that it would start to require subscriptions next year has drawn no shortage of attention and commentary. It has tried to put content behind a pay wall before (and failed), as have other newspapers.
Almost universally, newspapers have struggled with online subscriptions, with the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, a News Corp (NWS) property, the only two that have really delivered results better than awful. Whether the New York Times can operate at that level is in doubt, particularly given the stunning realization about Long Island daily newspaper Newsday.
Continue reading Newsday Shows Future of Online Subscription Model
Posted Jan 18th 2010 10:00AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), New York Times'A' (NYT), News Corp'B' (NWS)
The New York Times (NYT) has been struggling to figure out the web, which has led to a debate over whether to charge for electrons that has spanned years. Well, the Times seems likely to take the plunge, hoping to replicate the successes of the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal ... except, of course, that the Wall Street Journal is famous for not really delivering profits. Fortunately, the new pay wall is expected to look more like the Financial Times than the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times is considering a "metered" system. Visitors will be able to read a certain number of articles free before being required to subscribe.
A friend of Arthur Sulzberger, according to New York Magazine's Daily Intel, said that the final word could come in a few days, a sentiment corroborated by a newsroom source who said that the plan could be announced within weeks. Yet, plans need to be implemented, so it could take months for the Times to begin charging for content.
Continue reading New York Times Online Business Model Could Be Only Days Away
Posted Jan 11th 2010 12:30PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Ford Motor (F), New York Times'A' (NYT), Gannett Co (GCI), News Corp'B' (NWS)
The New York Times (NYT) reports today that newspapers dominate the news creation business.
This is an interesting twist -- instead of touting readers or paid circulation or ads or total revenue, it's talking about production. It's almost as if Ford (F) were to announce: "We make more cars than anyone else." Who the hell cares if they sell any, right? What's important is production, not sales! For the Times, and print media in general, it feels like yet another attempt to justify its existence and "prove" that it is more valuable than the more cost-effective and nimble online outlets.
Continue reading Most News Outlets Are Repetitive, New York Times Repeats
Posted Dec 28th 2009 1:30PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Industry, Competitive Strategy, Business of Sports, AOL (AOL)
Haven't had enough Tiger Woods news lately? Are you absolutely obsessed with the comings and goings of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and their respective love lives? Well, the newest entrant into the world of sports reporting may keep you up to date on just that, and more. TMZ has become a major name in the world of celebrity news, and is now expanding its reach into the world of sports.
The main reason for this move is that TMZ will no longer be tied to AOL (AOL), which should make it easier for Harvey Levin to introduce a sports-related Internet site. The celeb happenings of the past year have helped to cement the validity of TMZ, but advertising sales are on pace to come in $10 million shy of a year ago. TMZ itself has evolved from a scoffed-at website that paid for tips and hints to major news stories to an "effective news-gathering operation of a certain kind" according to Time Warner (TWX). TMZ came into its own this year, with the site's popularity exploding thanks to its report that Michael Jackson passed, which came in an hour before the "most mainstream news organizations."
Continue reading A New Entry into Sports Reporting: TMZ?
Posted Nov 13th 2009 9:45AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, Media World
It's wabbit season!
There's only good news for Playboy (PLA) when someone expresses an interest in buying it. Shares of the ailing men's lifestyle company shot higher on Thursday when word got out that Iconix is interested in acquiring it. Iconix owns and licenses brands to manufacturers and counts Candie's and London Fog among its holdings. A deal isn't a sure thing, but Playboy now has something it hasn't in a while: hope.
Iconix has been looking to acquire more brands. And Playboy has been looking for a knight in shining armor (and with a hefty war chest in tow) since at least June, when Scott Flanders took the helm. But it looked like acquisition bait well before then, thanks to a rough financial situation.
Continue reading Iconix sets its sights on Playboy
Posted Oct 19th 2009 11:00AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
A new executive team is trying to bring MySpace back to its former glory. By focusing on music, videos and games, it hopes to recapture some of its luster. With the MySpace refugees mounting, it's time for some new blood to make some brilliant, future-changing decisions. This week, the company is holding a conference for its global ad sales team to explore ways to bring in traffic and beef up ad spending.
MySpace is poised to haul in $495 million in ad revenue this year, down 15% from last year's $585 million, according to research firm eMarketer. In August, MySpace attracted 64.2 million unique visitors from the United States, off 15% from August 2008, according to comScore, while Facebook pulled in 92.2 million unique U.S. visitors – up more than 100% year-over-year.
Continue reading MySpace (still) refocusing on entertainment content
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