News Corp. (NWS) and MySpace. They've been together for a while. And I have a question: Should they still be together? Is there any reason for the social networking business to be in Rupert Murdoch's empire? Personally, I don't see a rationale for keeping MySpace in the fold.

Of course, I'm sure Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller has a different opinion. In fact, in the following Reuters article, he denies rumors concerning a desire on the part of News Corp. to sell the asset. Too bad, because I think it should be sold. Seriously, my sympathies go out to anyone in charge of bringing MySpace back to relevancy.

Continue reading News Corp. Should Get Rid of MySpace

News Corp. Should Get Rid of MySpace originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Rupert Murdoch Looking for More Subscriber-Based Properties

Rupert Murdoch Looking for More Subscriber-Based Properties originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp. (NWS) has been butting heads with Google (GOOG) for quite a long time now. Google News, which automatically aggregates news sources from around the globe and presents users with a central news dashboard, has been criticized by multiple news sources as a leecher of content that it does not pay for. That's an argument from way back.

But News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch, whose personal mission is to make everything produced by his company a pay event while much of the other news sources give away information for free, is again stating that Google needs to pay for the content it aggregates and presents.

Continue reading News Corp's Murdoch: Google Will Pay for News or Else

News Corp's Murdoch: Google Will Pay for News or Else originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We all knew News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar would cede the top spot to some film someday. To be honest, I didn't think Sony's (SNE) Dear John would be the one to do it.

According to Box Office Mojo, John grossed roughly $32 million at domestic theaters. That was more than enough to put the sci-fi flick in second place. However, no one should feel sad for News Corp.; Avatar's worldwide haul now stands at over $2.2 billion.

Continue reading Should 'Avatar' Be Rushed to DVD Now That It Is in Second Place?

Should 'Avatar' Be Rushed to DVD Now That It Is in Second Place? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Did you think Mel Gibson had a chance this past weekend? Probably not. By now, we're all used to seeing News Corp.s (NWS) Avatar take the top spot. And for those keeping score, this is the seventh victory in a row for James Cameron (who, by the way, may offer lessons for entrepreneurs, according to Tom Taulli).

According to early estimates from Box Office Mojo, Avatar made another $30 million at domestic theaters over the past three days. At the time of this writing, the worldwide gross was just under $2 billion (it will definitely go over $2 billion, don't worry). Time Warner's (TWX) Edge of Darkness, starring the aforementioned Gibson, wasn't even close to a challenge for the 3-D aliens. Give it some credit, though: It came in second with $17 million.

Continue reading News Corp.'s 'Avatar' Isn't Ready to Step Down

News Corp.'s 'Avatar' Isn't Ready to Step Down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Five of the largest companies in the print business are testing the digital waters together. Rather than yield their content to alien formats, Time Inc. (TWX), News Corp. (NWS), Conde Nast, Hearst and Meredith Corp. have announced plans to develop a digital content format of their own. This new product would compete with the newly released Nook from Barnes & Noble (BKS), as well as one from Sony (SNE) and the industry-leading Kindle from Amazon (AMZN). The new e-reader content will come in color and in a format that would work across several devices.

The five media companies are equal partners in this joint venture, which will allow publishers to set their own prices for their content -- an obvious response to what they see as unfavorable revenue share deals offered by Amazon earlier this year. Rupert Murdoch has been particularly vocal on this issue, particularly about the fact that News Corp. only receives a little more than a third of the $14.99 a month it costs to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal on a Kindle. He says of the device that it's "a fantastic invention for reading books. It is not much of an experience for newspapers."

Continue reading Time, News Corp, Hearst, and others to compete with Kindle

Time, News Corp, Hearst, and others to compete with Kindle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Free content's getting locked down. Google (GOOG), which has been criticized by the newspaper industry for sending them traffic making it easy for readers to find the stories they want without forcing them to make a purchase, is starting to play ball with the print industry.

What's the harm? The way things are going, Google will only have to be nice for a little while. Then, this latest defensive measure by the newspaper industry will have run its course, and Google will be free to do what it wants.

Continue reading Google gives newspapers what they want

Google gives newspapers what they want originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Microsoft and News Corp talk about pushing Google aside originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For retailers, the crucial season is on its way. Blow the Christmas rush, and next year starts off on a miserable foot. Success, of course, also delivers a healthy dose of momentum -- and a little bit of wiggle room, important in what will continue to be a tough economy through at least the first half of next year. For booksellers, now contending with a new variable in the form of digital readers, e-readers will play a major role in defining the winners and losers. So far, it looks like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is off to a great start, and it will take some genuine innovation for the competition to chip away at its market share.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), once the leading names in literary retail, is expected to release its own e-reader this week. It will look a bit like Amazon's Kindle, according to Reuters, but with a touch screen intended to make the reader's experience easier. The price hasn't been disclosed yet, but rumor has it that it'll be higher than the Kindle's $259. BKS is staying mum on its plans in this space. There are others in the space, as well, including IREX Technologies, which is a spinoff of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG), Asutek (tk: tk) and a project called FirstPaper that has Hearst behind it.

Continue reading Amazon in the lead, but Kindle competition is coming

Amazon in the lead, but Kindle competition is coming originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) outspoken Chairman Rupert Murdoch reversed himself recently and declared that all his company's web properties would soon move to a fee model, were you perplexed? After all, Murdoch runs one of the largest media empires on the planet. Combine that with a conditioned customer used to getting almost all content for free and yes, we have a problem.

Murdoch's empire just suffered an advertising meltdown with the rest of the world, with News Corp. declaring a huge decline in ad revenue for its latest quarter. Just a few years ago, Murdoch was toying with the idea of dropping the fee for looking at the Wall Street Journal's articles and columns. He's done a 180 here and wants to bring the Journal's pay-per-use model to just about every web property his company owns while he shouts "quality journalism is not cheap" from the rooftops of Fox News.

Continue reading Rupert Murdoch has it all wrong about fee-based web content

Rupert Murdoch has it all wrong about fee-based web content originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) bought MySpace.com for over $500 million back in 2005, some said it was the way Rupert Murdoch would charge into the digital media audience business in a big way. While that was true at the time, the digital world and its audience can become fickle and change rapidly as new web-based properties develop. It's pretty obvious by now that Facebook has leaped past MySpace and is "the place" to be when it comes to social networking interaction (although Twitter is garnering all the buzz presently).

Why Did MySpace lose its way? MySpace evolved to become a portal, offering music downloads and other goodies, while Facebook kept its social networking status as a place where friends and associates could virtually connect. And there you have it -- MySpace didn't evolve as trends were created and rapidly changed.

Continue reading News Corp.'s MySpace has cooled its heels, begins layoffs

News Corp.'s MySpace has cooled its heels, begins layoffs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading More bank stress tests needed?

More bank stress tests needed? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading News Corp. appoints new chairman

News Corp. appoints new chairman originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has made enemy after enemy in recent years after continuing to aggregate news and information sources to ensure customers can find the information they want, any time and on any device.

When Google News was launched, it became a target for publishers who believed that Google was somehow pilfering content. These folks still do not get it, especially media baron Rupert Murdoch. It's odd, since Murdoch seemingly gets new media.

Continue reading Rupert Murdoch to Google: Stop stealing!

Rupert Murdoch to Google: Stop stealing! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DailyFinance today: Phillies pitcher loses everything in Stanford scandal, Rupert Murdoch problems, 401(k) skimming, OPEC and the price slide originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sumner Redstone, who is the de facto head of Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and CBS (NYSE: CBS), was supposed to be the media baron who could not keep his top management. Now Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp (NYSE: NWS), has joined the club. The president of his company, Peter Chernin, is leaving.

Murdoch may be gambling that he can keep his job for life and hand it to one of his children. Since he is 77 and none of his children may be qualified, that could be a bad gamble. At least Chernin could have kept the CEO's seat warm while one of Murdoch's offspring got some more on-the-job training.

The press has made the Chernin departure into a story about the earnings trouble at News Corp. In reality, its problems are not much worse than they are at most other big media companies. News Corp is burdened more than some of its peers because of its newspaper holdings. But, odds are that News Corp will make it out of the recession intact and in a position to take advantage of the eventual improvement in the ad markets.

Continue reading Rupert Murdoch: Another old man loses key management

Rupert Murdoch: Another old man loses key management originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) paid what most people thought was the limit of the rational price when he bought Dow Jones over a year ago for $5 billion. His company has already been forced to write-down a part of that in its earnings report for 2008. But, Dow Jones might be only worth $500 million or $1 billion if it were still public today.

A quick look at the Saturday Wall Street Journal shows a paper in four sections, each very thin. When all the ads for Dow Jones products are subtracted, there are about three paid pages of advertising left. That has to create a really large loss.

Continue reading Note to Rupert Murdoch: Dow Jones would have been cheaper this year

Note to Rupert Murdoch: Dow Jones would have been cheaper this year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) CEO Rupert Murdoch, at 77, has been around for a while. But it looks like that while may be too long after today's report on News Corp. earnings and outlook. That report suggests that Murdoch wildly overpaid for Dow Jones. But he wanted it and he got what he wanted. The questions for long-suffering shareholders is whether what Murdoch wants is good for them and whether he's the person to lead News Corp through the troubled waters ahead.

Prospects are for more pain. Analysts are estimating a 22% drop in News Corp.'s fiscal 2009 operating profit to almost $4 billion. And with its stock down 56% in the last year, what could Murdoch do to revive it? One possibility is to restructure the newspapers in a radical -- but obvious way -- put all the content online and sell search advertising to those who want access to all the readers. That would cut the cost of the newspapers tremendously.

Continue reading Is it time for a management change at News Corp?

Is it time for a management change at News Corp? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), the big media conglomerate that competes with Disney (NYSE: DIS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), CBS (NYSE: CBS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, reported not-so-good earnings for the fiscal second quarter on Thursday after the bell.

Of course, not many companies are reporting good earnings these days, are they? News Corp. lost $2.45 per share due to impairment charges for goodwill and intangible assets. Throwing that aside, the company earned 12 cents per share. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, that came up well short of estimates of 19 cents per share. Net sales dropped 8%.

Continue reading News Corp.'s Q2 earnings get low ratings

News Corp.'s Q2 earnings get low ratings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

There's no doubt about it -- times are tough. People are struggling to find work and to pay the bills as the value of their homes and savings dwindle. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer.

Or do they? It's all relative, of course, but world's billionaires have been taking some big hits too. We take a look at Sheldon Adelson, Kirk Kerkorian, and Lakshmi Mittal in their own separate posts, but here are some other billionaires who have lost billions this year (courtesy of Forbes and Business Sheet).

• Brothers Anil and Mukesh Ambani of India's private conglomerate Reliance lost $32.5 billion and $28.2 billion, respectively.
• Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, lost $16.5 billion. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) are down about 32% since the beginning of the year.
• Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen lost $12.3 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively, while CEO Steve Balmer lost $6.5 billion. Shares of Microsoft are down 46% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Page and Sergey Brin, cofounders of Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG), lost $11.9 billion and $11.7 billion, respectively, and CEO Eric Schmidt lost $3.8 billion. The share price of Google has fallen 55% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), lost $8.2 billion. Shares of Oracle are down 21% since the beginning of the year.
• Media maven Sumner Redstone lost $7.2 billion. Shares of his private investment firm National Amusements fell 70% this year.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Billionaires who lost billions this year

Money losers of 2008: Billionaires who lost billions this year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.