This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the Tiffany Network below in the comments.

If CBS Corp.'s (NYSE:CBS) nickname The Tiffany Network were newly coined, I'd speculate that it referred to the long history of Tiffany's, and how the current CBS viewing public had probably begun shopping there back in the '20s. If the company has a more recently gained nickname, it would be the silver (-haired) network, due to the skewing of its viewership toward the geezer crowd.

In reality, the Tiffany moniker hearkens back to the CBS of radio's heyday and the early days of television. With the likes of Edward R. Murrow reporting from London during the Blitz, Orson Wells scaring the bejebus out of listeners with his broadcast of The War of the Worlds, the hit multi-cultural comedy I Love Lucy, and the iconic western Gunsmoke, the network's reputation for quality was once as glittering as one of Tiffany's diamond-pavéd bracelets.

How the mighty have fallen. CBS, with debacles such as the Katie Couric news anchor stint, now lags behind Fox in weekly ratings.

The Tiffany Network is part of a massive entertainment company with fingers in television (66% of revenues), radio (remember radio?) (12%), outdoor advertising (16%), and publishing (6%). Yes, those are all very 20th century businesses. The question troubling current investors is just how the company will move into the 21st century without swapping all its diamonds for rhinestones?

Continue reading Company nicknames: Tiffany Network CBS becoming The Silver Network

Company nicknames: Tiffany Network CBS becoming The Silver Network originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"It shows CBS is holding its own despite the recessionary advertising environment in the U.S," he told Bloomberg News. "The yearly dividend is now a 5 percent yield, and it's one of the cheapest stocks in the media group.''

Continue reading Should investors tune into CBS?

Should investors tune into CBS? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Time spent viewing an ad -- new metric has many applications

Time spent viewing an ad -- new metric has many applications originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Advertising-supported content has become the dominant business model for the internet, as demonstrated by our (AOL, Time Warner, NYSE:TWX) recent change from a membership-based model. Advertising Age recently released its study of the 100 top advertisers and how they spend their advertising dollars. For all the brouhaha about the internet, traditional print advertising still dominates the marketing plans of the top corporations. A breakdown of 2006 expenditures by ad distribution platform shows --

1. Magazines -- $29.83 billion
2. Newspapers -- $29.80 billion
3. Network TV -- $27.16 billion
4. Spot TV -- $17.23 billion
5. Cable TV networks -- $16.75 billion
6. Radio -- $11.06 billion
7. Internet -- $9.75 billion
8. Syndicated TV -- $4.2 billion
9. Outdoor -- $3.83 billion

Continue reading 2006 Advertising recap, part 1: Following the money

2006 Advertising recap, part 1: Following the money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer: Daktronics is new media with room to run originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.