Italy’s Corriere della Sera gets cheeky lifeline 11 Apr 2016 RCS, publisher of the Italian daily newspaper, has received an offer from Cairo valuing it at almost 300 mln euros. That isn’t generous, and may not even offer a clean exit. But RCS has few options. At least this way its fate may be determined by a media group, not financiers.
Corporate America could price bigotry beyond reach 11 Apr 2016 Opposition to anti-LGBT state laws is growing: PayPal nixed a new North Carolina office; Apple, Google and Facebook won’t invest more in the state. Rocker Bryan Adams refuses to play in Mississippi. With resistance now financial as well as moral, bias makes zero economic sense.
Yahoo could be good home for sidebar of shame 11 Apr 2016 The parent of scandal-peddler Daily Mail may bid for the U.S. media group. That could catapult the MailOnline onto ad buyers’ agendas. Since owner Viscount Rothermere has spent a decade diversifying away from news, the best deal might be one that breaks the UK group up.
Berlusconi, Bollore, Murdoch lock horns: who wins? 8 Apr 2016 Vivendi, controlled by Vincent Bollore, has bought out Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset Italian pay-TV business for 720 mln euros. That creates tougher competition for Rupert Murdoch’s Sky. Of the three tycoons, former Italian PM Berlusconi comes out best.
Disney leadership hitch evokes Eisner era 7 Apr 2016 After losing his heir apparent, Bob Iger may opt to stick around beyond a planned 2018 retirement date. His predecessor, Michael Eisner, botched a succession plan and overstayed his welcome after a successful first decade as CEO. There’s a danger Disney history repeats itself.
Alibaba sails into media sector’s prevailing winds 6 Apr 2016 The e-commerce group is bucking convention by dismantling the paywall at its recently acquired South China Morning Post. That should win the Hong Kong paper some new readers. But free web content faces mounting challenges. Investors will finance Chairman Jack Ma’s gamble.
Disney’s fairytale CEO plan gets twist in ending 5 Apr 2016 Bob Iger’s right-hand man Tom Staggs is stepping down, a year after he was anointed as heir apparent. That leaves no obvious succession plan at Disney after Iger twice extended his reign. An outsider would be surprising. At least the company has two years to find a replacement.
China box-office scandal may see sequels 1 Apr 2016 The distributor of a martial arts hit starring Mike Tyson faked ticket sales. Dodgy statistics, funky financing and regulatory crackdowns are plot elements familiar to many sectors in China. But the booming movie business looks especially vulnerable to myth-making.
Pandora sends out bad signal with CEO change 28 Mar 2016 The $2.5 bln streaming-music service abruptly replaced its boss with co-founder Tim Westergren. It’s a worrying sign with Pandora reportedly up for sale amid stiffer competition from Spotify and others. Companies that call on entrepreneurs later in life also have a mixed record.
Playboy’s $500 mln price tag has no clothes 24 Mar 2016 The magazine which recently ended its nude centerfold tradition may be on the block again, supposedly after interest in founder Hugh Hefner’s mansion flushed out potential buyers. Based on comparable valuations and sales of publishing brands, the price talk seems like delusion.
Cox: The social costs of financial returns 24 Mar 2016 That’s the tension at the center of “Dry Powder,” an off-Broadway play about private equity. Like most dramatizations of high finance, it engages in caricature. But the show also offers genuine insight into the emerging risks Wall Street faces from rising income inequality.
Tennis jerks miss point of equal prizes for women 22 Mar 2016 A now ex-tournament boss said women players are riding on the coattails of the men. He failed to recognize the sport’s strength – a broad, gender-balanced constituency of fans. That’s where the money, be it Federer’s $67 mln a year or Sharapova’s $30 mln, really comes from.
Review: A tycoon’s vision for Chinese consumers 18 Mar 2016 Wang Jianlin says business books are “nonsense” that entrepreneurs don’t need. His own “The Wanda Way” is no exception. Though China’s richest man explains how his overseas M&A spree serves his aim to dominate the country’s consumer market, it fails to deliver juicy details.
U.S. trustbusters look blind to media disruption 17 Mar 2016 The Justice Department sued to stop a $56 mln merger of southern California’s largest newspapers, saying a monopoly would result. Yet regulators approved competitively riskier deals involving the likes of DirecTV. It’s as if they never heard of falling readership and ad sales.
CBS exit from radio in tune with the times 16 Mar 2016 The $24 bln broadcaster is mulling a sale of its 117 U.S. stations, just as internet service Pandora may be on the block. The moves could make sense, given stiff competition from the likes of Spotify, waning advertising and other industry disruption. The trick is to find buyers.
Sony-Michael Jackson deal augurs earnings thriller 15 Mar 2016 The Japanese giant will pay the pop singer’s estate $750 mln for its share of their joint venture which owns rights to tunes from Taylor Swift to the Beatles. Sony can then reap all the benefits of the fast-growing streaming market – especially the more profitable older tracks.
China’s soccer field of dreams lacks paying fans 15 Mar 2016 Tycoons and corporate giants are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on local clubs and foreign players. Media groups are bidding up the value of broadcasting rights. To be viable, though, China’s leagues need to attract lots of paying viewers. That’s hardly an open goal.
Viacom’s minority shareholders give up their bark 14 Mar 2016 A “substantial majority” of non-insiders voted to re-elect the media company’s board, including boss Philippe Dauman. That’s despite hand-wringing over strategy, poor returns and Sumner Redstone’s health. It’s a pity: even minority owners can sometimes force changes.
Twitter’s staff handouts add to "profit" flattery 10 Mar 2016 The $11 bln microblog is giving people more stock, and cash, to keep them sweet after losses on shares already granted. Aside from defeating the point of making employees owners, it ensures Twitter’s custom metrics, which exclude stock-based pay, become even less realistic.
Wanda’s U.S. cinema rollup unlikely to get rewrite 9 Mar 2016 An unhappy investor thinks Chinese-controlled AMC Entertainment is underpaying for rival American theater chain Carmike. The 20 pct premium is no blockbuster, but it’s no flop either. And after a year of hawking itself, the $1.1 bln deal may be the best the company could get.