| Wed, Dec 05, 2007 |
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The Players In The 700 MHz Auction
It will be a while before the list of official bidders in the 700 MHz spectrum auction in the US are announced, but there are some statements out already. What is known:
-- Frontline will bid, which is hardly surprising since that was the whole reason the company was formed. (Wired)
-- AT&T (
NYSE: T) is bidding, although it did get a whole bunch of spectrum via its purchase of Aloha. (PC Mag)
-- Cox Communications will bid, while fellow cable operators Time Warner (
NYSE: TWX) and Comcast (
NSDQ: CMCSA) won’t (RCR News)
-- Google (
NSDQ: GOOG) will bid, which has been known for a while.
-- Verizon (
NYSE: VZ) will bid, Sprint (
NYSE: S) Nextel doesn’t plan to (Forbes)
That’s all the definites, Forbes does a good job of listing the maybes, which include Clearwire (to get more national coverage) and smaller telcos like MetroPCS, Leap Wireless and Alltel (
NYSE: AT) could bid for smaller blocks to fill out their networks… T-Mobile is unlikely to bid aggressively, while Qualcomm (
NSDQ: QCOM) might bid to get more spectrum for its MediaFLO service. Then there are the off-beat suggestions, such as satellite TV companies DirecTV (
NYSE: DTV) and Echostar, (
NSDQ: DISH) retailers like Best Buy and Wal Mart, and the almost pathologically unlikely: Handset manufacturers.
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| Tue, Dec 04, 2007 |
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Beliefnet Being Bought By News Corp; Cable Ties Possible; Not Buying LinkedIn
It’s the season of rumors and strange fits: Beliefnet, the NYC-based multi-faith community site which has been around since 1999 and has gone through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has finally been bought, according to reports. The buyer is News Corp...yes, the company has found faith, well, multi-faith, according to FishBowlNYC and since then also confirmed to us by sources. Beliefnet was launched in December 1999 and has been profitable since October 2002, according to the company...it raised a $7 million round from Softbank Capital in 2005. The acquisition news is supposed to be officially announced tomorrow.
Meanwhile, another hot rumor, that LinkedIn was in talks with News Corp. (
NYSE: NWS) may not come to fruition. Reuters (
NSDQ: RTRSY) said in a story that the talks were not happening, and are talking about future partnerships only.
Staci adds: News Corp.-Beliefnet is not as far-fetched as it seems when you consider News Corp.’s faith-based efforts including Fox Faith, the 20th Century Fox line of movies aimed at the religious set and operating under Fox Home Entertainment, publishing houses HarperOne and Zondervan. (According to Christianity Today, some producers have complained about the marketing and promotion efforts behind the films.) Also, there are cable possibilities here and even digital video distribution. Over at SAI, some eyebrow raising at the fact that this is being handled by Dan Fawcett, head of Fox Digital Media, rather than Pete Levinsohn at FIM. Yes, it’s a website, but it doesn’t fit at all with FIM while Fawcett’s small group already makes deals that involve a number of entities across Fox. In fact, this marks the official start of an expanded role for Fawcett, whose background includes EVP-programming and business & legal affairs for DirecTV (
NYSE: DTV) and EVP-business and legal affairs for Fox Cable Networks. His group will now be responsible not only for extending the Fox Entertainment’s cable, TV and film brands online but for finding new opportunities including acquisitions like Beliefnet.
-- The deal does have a FIM tie-in: Beliefnet will be using FIM’s targeted ad delivery platform.
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| Wed, Nov 28, 2007 |
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Earnings: Tivo Q3 Revs Up 11 Percent; Losses Narrow
DVR maker Tivo did Q3 revenue of $58.3 million, up 11 percent from last year’s $52.5 million. Net losses narrowed to $8.2 million ($.08 per share) from $11.1 million ($.12 per share) a year ago. The company cited expanded retail availability and new product launches for its top-line growth. Tivo-owned subscriptions totaled 1.7 million, compared to 1.6 million last year, as growth was mitigated by DirecTV, (
NYSE: DTV) which no longer deploys new Tivo boxes. Cumulative subscribers stand at 4 million, down from 4.4 million. The company’s monthly churn rate hit 1.3 percent, up from 1 percent. Looking to next quarter, the company is anticipating revenue of $58 million - $60 million and net losses of $9 million - $12 million.
Release | Webcast (5:00 PM ET)
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| Tue, Nov 27, 2007 |
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FCC Chairman Continues To Target Cable Despite Protests from Fellow Commissioners, Republicans
The most predictable aspect of Tuesday’s FCC meeting may be its unpredictability. Chairman Kevin Martin is trying to push through several measures, including a last-minute piece of bureaucrat-ese that would escalate the commission’s ability to regulate the cable industry. But that particular push is getting so much push back, it may not stay on the agenda. At issue: the 70-70 rule, which gives the FCC more power over cable when cable penetration reaches 70 percent of U.S. households. Martin’s finding that the barrier has been broken is based on data gathered by one publisher who says the data is incomplete. In the meantime, at least three commissioners have challenged the findings, while analyst Craig Moffett says, based on data from the eight publicly traded MSOs, cable barely breaks 60 percent. The plan has drawn heavy criticism from Republican legislators and from others who point to an increasingly more competitive video marketplace where cable loses basic subs while alternatives like satellite and telecoms are gaining. The meeting will air live on CSPAN-2 at 9:30 a.m. eastern. (It also should be online here.)
-- Also on the agenda, a proposal that could force cable operators to put certain channels, including the NFL Network, on basic tiers. (Funny, I don’t remember the FCC stepping in to aid consumers when the NFL granted DirecTV (
NYSE: DTV) an exclusive to carry its out-of-market package.)
WSJ: “As of Monday night, the commissioners were still haggling over details. Drafts of several proposals remained incomplete and one FCC official described negotiations as “a total mess.” Monday, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s four fellow commissioners were even “seriously talking about how to not have the meeting at all,” another FCC official said.”
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| Wed, Oct 24, 2007 |
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Liberty Media Shareholders Vote to Split Liberty Capital Into Two Tracking Stocks
Shareholder of Liberty Media, the media holding company, have approved the previously announced plan to split Liberty Capital into two tracking stocks—Liberty Capital and Liberty Entertainment. The move is subject to the exchange agreement with News Corp., with Liberty trading its stake in News Corp. (
NYSE: NWS) in exchange for shares of a newly formed News Corp. unit consisting of its DirecTV (
NYSE: DTV) holdings, three regional sports networks and cash. The new Liberty Entertainment Group stock will track that stake, as well as Liberty properties Starz, FUN Technologies, GSN and WildBlue Communications. Still needed: regulatory approval. Release.
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