Television

Review: New tech brings golden age of media

16 November 2018

The internet has provided ample fodder for the endless debate over culture versus commerce. In “Digital Renaissance,” business professor Joel Waldfogel says consumers have more good music, movies and television shows than ever to choose from, and haven’t bankrupted industry.

German TV reset sends blurry signal

8 November 2018

Broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 is slashing dividend payouts to invest more in shows and technology. Such radical moves are necessary – viewers and advertisers are switching over to digital rivals. Yet CEO Max Conze’s plan for hitting ambitious new longer-term targets is fuzzy.

Netflix is online video’s Walmart, and its Tiffany

16 October 2018

CEO Reed Hastings has created a firm that has both the scale of the giant retailer and the pricing power of the luxury jeweler. That’s rare. The trick will be ensuring his $145 bln outfit, which added more subscribers than expected last quarter, can maintain both labels.

Buyout pass-the-parcel hands BC Partners a present

28 September 2018

The investment group is buying a stake in a $3 bln European cable company from KKR. It’s a good deal, thanks to the seller’s desire to cash out. Private equity funds’ limited investment terms mean managers can’t always choose when to sell. Longer-life funds are one solution.

Hulu is next front in Disney-Comcast battle

27 September 2018

Disney made the best call of the Fox-Comcast-Sky saga by consenting to Fox selling its Sky stake at Comcast’s eye-popping price. It plans to invest some of the $15 bln proceeds in Hulu. Comcast, which owns 30 pct of the online-video JV, would be wise to follow suit and let it go.

Comcast $40 bln lunacy gives Disney shot at sanity

24 September 2018

The cable firm paid a crazy price for Sky. The Mouse House is piling on debt to buy Fox assets, including part of the UK pay-TV group. Selling it would allow CEO Bob Iger to reduce Disney’s leverage or add firepower to battle streaming rivals like Netflix. Either is a smart move.

Sky windfall leaves little for Europe’s TV stocks

24 September 2018

Comcast’s $40 billion bid is a bonanza for the UK broadcaster’s shareholders. That trade may have run its course, though. Europe’s remaining media companies are subscale, slower-growing and more likely to lose customers to Sky than attract another deep-pocketed U.S. buyer.

Comcast overreaches for Sky with $40 bln knockout

22 September 2018

The U.S. cable group beat Disney’s Fox in an auction for the UK broadcaster with a bid worth 17.28 pounds per share. CEO Brian Roberts will struggle to justify the offer on any conventional metric. It’s a huge bet on overseas growth for a group that can’t get much larger at home.

Viacom has chance to pitch its own script

10 September 2018

The controlling Redstone family won’t be trying to reunite the media group with sister company CBS any time soon. New leadership, international expansion and an improved movie slate are aiding Viacom’s recovery. At $12 bln it’s cheap, too. It’s a tastier target than CBS.

CBS cancels melodrama in favor of steady series

10 September 2018

Boss Les Moonves is out amid new allegations of sexual assault. A truce between controlling owner Shari Redstone and the $21 bln media firm makes way for better checks and balances. CBS needs Moonves less than it needs a spell of normality – and that’s now within reach.

CEO pay clawback is central to CBS board plotline

6 September 2018

Boss Les Moonves, currently under investigation for sexual harassment, may be negotiating an exit package. The $20 billion media group’s board could take back part of his golden parachute if he’s found to be culpable. It’s one way the directors can justify their presence.

Nielsen’s best option is to rip off the band-aid

13 August 2018

Paul Singer’s Elliott disclosed a 5 pct stake in the stumbling $8.5 bln TV-ratings firm and is pushing for a sale. It’s a surer remedy than auctioning one floundering business unit amidst a protracted CEO search. Buyout firms took Nielsen on once before. Maybe they will again.

Collapsing deals point to tired M&A bull market

9 August 2018

Tribune and Rite Aid terminated plans to sell themselves after shareholders and regulators objected. Perceived double-dealing also played a role. But crummy transactions falling apart is to be expected from a late-stage of a merger cycle that has run its course.

Sinclair dumbly punched a gift horse in the mouth

7 August 2018

The right-wing broadcaster needlessly endangered its $3.9 bln bid for Tribune Media by selling stations to questionable buyers. That put sympathetically inclined Trump regulators in a bind. The Chicago-based TV group is better off pulling the plug and selling to someone else.

Viewsroom: CBS’s $184 mln #MeToo challenge

2 August 2018

That’s what CEO Les Moonves gets if he leaves the U.S. TV network – unless fired for cause. That’s rare in corporate America. But allegations he sexually harassed women put the board on the spot. Plus: Hong Kong battles the Big Apple for IPOs. And China faces a vaccine scandal.

CBS directors need to prepare to fire their CEO

2 August 2018

Les Moonves was accused of sexual harassment in a published report. The company is belatedly investigating. If he violated CBS rules, the overpaid Moonves should lose the $184 mln he could collect if terminated without cause. That would partially redeem an otherwise feeble board.

#MeToo is only one of CBS’s Les Moonves problems

30 July 2018

The media group is investigating its CEO over sexual-harassment accusations. Even without that, he was a risk. CBS has an entrenched board, is fighting unhelpfully with controlling owner Shari Redstone and faces a tricky industry-wide transition. Moonves is no longer an asset.

Comcast’s second loss to Disney is a victory

19 July 2018

Boss Brian Roberts decided not to top rival Bob Iger’s $71 bln bid for Fox assets, instead focusing on buying Sky. In 2004, Comcast also backed down after trying to buy the Mouse House. Given the eye-watering price Disney is paying, Roberts and his shareholders are the winners.

Netflix growth setback gives rivals an opening

16 July 2018

The streaming-video service attracted fewer new subscribers than forecast in the latest quarter, knocking $20 bln off its value. That will comfort Disney and Comcast as they wage a costly battle for Fox and Sky. Yet with 130 mln customers, Netflix remains far ahead in the race.

AT&T throws bone to antitrust watchdogs

13 July 2018

The U.S. Justice Dept faces high hurdles in appealing a harsh ruling that cleared the $85 bln purchase of Time Warner. But since the deal closed, AT&T is raising some customer prices. The hikes came after the DOJ lost its case, but could still sway the court of public opinion.