Blogs join the media mainstream 4 Nov 2005 Weblogs used to be written off as amateur ramblings. Now internet giants like Google, Yahoo and AOL are starting to pay attention to them. But that doesn t mean blogs will eclipse traditional media. There is room for both.
FT editor quits after strategic row with Pearson 3 Nov 2005 Pearson s CEO, Marjorie Scardino, once said she d sell the FT over dead body. Now she s trying to fix it instead. This will be a tough haul if the FT sticks to the expansionist strategy Scardino has always backed.
Time Warner’s buyback doesn’t go far enough 2 Nov 2005 The media conglomerate is upping its planned stock buyback to $12.5bn from $5bn. That's less than the $20bn investor Carl Icahn wanted. This hardly stretches the company s finances, with debttoebitda ratios of below three times. It seems a half measure in every sense.
Steve Case bolts Time Warner board 31 Oct 2005 The AOL founder and former chairman leaves just in time for Time Warner to do something bold about AOL. Indeed, the timing looks more than a little auspicious and may suggest Time Warner is willing to split AOL in two and dump the dialup arm.
Cablevision stymies $8bn Dolan buyout 25 Oct 2005 Good for the independent directors. It would have been disastrous to sell it cheaply to the controlling family and watch it make a fortune. Gearing up is the right next step. But it still leaves things a mess not surprising, given the mercurial way the Dolans conduct business.
VNU buyout would be a big stretch 25 Oct 2005 A group of four private equity groups has reportedly been circling the beleaguered Dutch publisher since March. But they may be too late. An LBO might have been feasible when the share price was at E21. But at E27, it looks all but impossible.
Viacom’s split fizzles 21 Oct 2005 The media group s stock price suggests the real problem was not a conglomerate discount, but a Sumner Redstone one. The breakup still leaves two companies under the baronial control of the chairman and his daughter.
BSkyB overpays for broadband presence 21 Oct 2005 The broadcaster is offering an 80% premium for Easynet, the internet company, and a multiple of 18 times ebitda. That looks too much. BSkyB could more cheaply have built a broadband presence from scratch.
New York Times flounders in internet era 21 Oct 2005 The media company s profits are down on rising costs and fading circulation growth. It needs to revamp its online strategy and figure out a way to monetise the vast store of knowledge it owns.
Bollore should not count on an Aegis board seat 20 Oct 2005 The corporate raider bought 20% of media group Havas and installed himself as chairman. Some think he ll try to do the same at Aegis. But the UK media buying firm doesn t need fixing. And Bollore s presence on the board would create some serious conflicts of interest.
Deutsche flogs RCS and other Italian stocks 18 Oct 2005 The German bank hasn t said why. But the rumour is it s selling the collateral it took against loans it made to Ricucci the RCS raider. That wouldn t be surprising. RCS's stock has fallen. And more selling could follow if BPI also places the 15% it holds as collateral.
BSkyB hedges bets with broadband 17 Oct 2005 Bidding for Easynet would be a wise, if defensive, move. Sky may be the dominant force in UK pay TV today. But BT and cable are a more potent threat. And the mass takeup of broadband is making its satellite platform look increasingly obsolete.
Google/Microsoft war puts both at risk 14 Oct 2005 The fight between the two IT giants is becoming dead serious. Both are trying to enter the other s business and lower margins. Only one of the two deserves a massive market capitalisation or maybe neither.
AOL valuable pawn in Microsoft/Google war 13 Oct 2005 The internet unit had been a millstone around US media group Time Warner s neck. AOL has suddenly become valuable. Both Microsoft and Google would like to acquire AOL. More importantly, neither wants the other to.
VNU shares risk overshooting 13 Oct 2005 The good news is the Dutch publisher s E6bn acquisition of IMS looks dead in the water. And management will find it hard to hang on. But investors shouldn t get too overexcited. VNU may get a shakeup. But the company is already trading at a 15% premium to its peers.
Icahn damns Time Warner board 11 Oct 2005 The AOL merger wasn t the media giant's only disaster. Everything since has been a dismal failure too, the billionaire investor reckons. And he has a point. Shareholders should support Icahn's demand for a shake up of the board.
Ricucci looks on wobbly ground 11 Oct 2005 The controversial property tycoon, who has been at the centre of Italy s two bank bids, caused a big splash when he bought 21% of RCS. But it looks like he geared up to the gills to do so. Now that RCS s share price has tumbled, banks may force him to sell down his stake.
Rebels turn up the heat on VNU-IMS merger 6 Oct 2005 Shareholders are right to demand VNU drop its bid. The two companies no more belong together now than when they were demerged in 1996. But suggesting that VNU should break itself up is equally mistaken.
Crazy DVD format war escalates 3 Oct 2005 Film studios, consumer electronic groups and computer firms are rushing to join one of two camps developing nextgeneration video players. The battle is starting to resemble the "War against Terror": vicious; costly; counterproductive and fought over largely irrelevant issues.
German minorities get stiffed – again 30 Sep 2005 At least this time the target firm, ProSiebenSat, acknowledges that bidder Springer isn t paying enough cash to pref holders. But the option that pref investors have been given instead swapping their shares for Springer stock is still a false choice.