Comcast – NBCU – (broadcast properties)

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Christian Aleksandrov

by CHRISTIAN ALEKSANDROV

About

NBCUniversal is one of the world’s mass media conglomerates. Founded in 1926 as the National Broadcasting Corporation, Inc. (NBC), the company steadily expanded domestically and internationally, owning and operating a vast portfolio of broadcasting networks, cable channels, and online platforms, as well as, motion picture production and distribution enterprises, and several amusement parks.

The company initially founded by the Radio Corporation of America. Inc, became a sole unit of General Electric in 1986. In 2004, NBC joined forces with Vivendi’s Universal Entertainment and expanded its operations out of the television broadcasting field. Since 2008, NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast, the largest cable company and home Internet service provider in the United States, becoming the world’s largest in revenue mass media group.

NBC current logo

The flagship company of Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the National Broadcasting Corporation. Inc (NBC), the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. For nearly 90 years, NBC has been offering quality news, entertainment and sports programming. One of NBC’s most popular shows are the Friends, ER, Seinfeld, Saturday Night Live, the morning show Today and Nightly News.

Key Executives

Steve Burke, Chief Executive Officer

PatPatricia Fili-Krushel
Chairman NBCUniversal News Group

Financials

Comcast’s stock prices for the last three months (CMCSA)

NBCUniversal’s most recent financial report shows that in 2014, the NBCUniversal’s revenue increased 7.5% to $25.4 billion compared to $23.7 billion in 2013, making the company and specifically its broadcasting division NBC, Comcast’s major earnings booster. The Sochi Olympics was the event that brought most of the revenue to the company. Even excluding $1.1 billion of revenue generated by the Sochi Olympics in the first quarter of 2014, the revenue still increased 2.9%. Contributing to the standout performance in 2014 was also the 18% growth in operating cash flow. As of April 17, 2015, the price one Comcast’s share on NASDAQ is 58.42, which is close to the company’s record high of March 6, 2015. The report for the first quarter of 2015 has not been released yet.

Programming

NBC broadcast one of the most watched morning, daytime, primetime and late night programs. However, the current 2014-2015 television season is expected to be less successful than the previous season, when NBC was named most watched network by adults 18-34. While shows like Blacklist, Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and Modern Family attracted enough audience to remain on the top of the ratings, other newly launched programs like the Slap, and A to Z were canceled after a couple of episodes.

Click here to find more infomation about the current programming schedule on NBC.

Controversies in NBC News

Pat Fili-Krushel, Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, Andy Lack, Deborah Turness, and Steve Burke.
Photo Illustration by Sean McCabe; Courtesy of Vanity Fair.

In the last five years, shortly after Comcast’s acquisition of the company, NBCUniversal has been experiencing serious issues with the performance, popularity and credibility of its news division – NBC News. Lower ratings, higher competition, personnel problems, and unprofessional business and media practices caused concerns about the current state and future performance of the broadcasting network, and hurt the image of the media conglomerate as a whole.

The controversies in NBC News date back to 2012 and the surprising and “very public” departure of NBC’s morning show host, Ann Curry, from the program. Curry was replaced by Savannah Guthrie just after a year on the air as co-host of Today due to low ratings. Her departure however caused a negative response from the public due to rumors for backstage rivalry between her and co-host Matt Lauer as cause for her replacement. Even though Curry remained in the network for 3 more years after, she made only occasional appearances on the screen, which led to her departure from NBC News in 2015.

Similar to the case with Today show, NBC News Sunday morning show Meet the Press, under the moderation of David Gregory, struggled with achieving the high ratings of its predecessor Tim Russert. This led to Gregory’s encouraged by the network departure from the program in 2014, and, indeed, to another controversial personnel replacement for NBC News.

However, the greatest challenge for the news division of NBC came in 2015. On February 4 broadcast of Nightly News, the most watched news program in the United States for years, Brian Williams, the host and managing editor of Nightly News, confessed that he had reported a misinterpreted information about an incident from the War in Iraq in 2003. Williams apologized for the story he had told on the January 30 Nightly News broadcast, and back on March 26, 2003 that a military helicopter he was traveling in had been forcibly taken down by an RPG. Shortly after, NBC News President Deborah Turness decided to suspend Williams for six months without being paid in order to quell the scandal, but the news about his false reporting remained in the agenda of most media outlets for days.

Williams’ controversy seriously affected the credibility of NBC News. This event, together with the identity crisis in Meet the Press and Today finally led to changes in the executive personnel of the news division. A month after the scandal with Brian Williams, Andrew Lack, a former president and COO of NBC, was named the new head of NBC News, replacing the TV veteran Pat Fili-Krushel Under his supervision, Today, NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press were all on the top of the ratings in the 90s. NBCUniversal’s executives also hope that Lack would work to improve MSNBCs low ratings momentum, as well.

Unfortunately, shots have continued to be fired at NBC News credibility. On April, 16, 2015, after a thorough investigation initiated by New York Times and only two months after Williams’ suspension, NBC News revised another report. This time of the 2012 kidnapping of its chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel. In the statement, NBC said that Engel’s reporting that he had been abducted by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was incorrect. In fact, he was kidnapped by the Sunni militants, who at that time were supported by the United States. The public response and NBC’s further actions regarding the case are yet to be detirmined.

What’s next?

Even though NBCUniversal has been contributing to the growth of its parent company Comcast with high ratings and increasing revenue, the recent controversies behind the news division of the company had been hurting the public image of the media conglomerate. With the new changes in the executive figures, the company is hoping to bring back the old leadership of the flagship news programs and to make them equally successful as NBCs primetime programs The Voice, The Blacklist, Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live. It’s still not determined what Andrey Lack’s plans are for the future of NBC News – would he keep Brian Williams and bring him back next fall, or he would replace him with his current interim Lester Holt, who continues to bring relatively high ratings for Nightly News. On the primetime schedule, NBC is hoping to attract more audience with some new shows – Eva Longoria’s comedy Telenovela, David Duchovny’s limited series Aquarius and Will and Grace’s star Megan Mullally new futuristic dramedy Apocalypse. NBC’s upfront, when the company is officially reveiling its plans for the upcoming television season is scheduled to be on May 11, 2015.

Sources

[1] NBC Logo. Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://awfulannouncing.com/2013/cbs-sports-chairman-sean-mcmanus-on-that-other-pregame-show-concussions-and-fantasy-football.html

[2] NBCUniversal Who we are. Retreived April 17, 2015 from http://www.nbcuniversal.com/who-we-are

[3] Steve Burke. Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://www.nbcuniversal.com/who-we-are

[4] Patricia Fili-Krushel. Retreived April 17, 2015 from http://www.nbcuniversal.com/who-we-are

[5]Andrew Lack Returns to NBC As News Chief, Will Face Challenges Restoring Credibility. Retreived April 17, 2015, from http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/andrew-lack-will-face-challenges-in-return-to-nbcu-as-news-chief-1201447765/

[6] Ann Curry Out At NBC News; Forming NBCU-Backed Startup – Update. Retrieved Retreived April 17, 2015, from http://deadline.com/2015/01/ann-curry-leaving-nbc-news-today-show-1201349168/

[7] NBC: Brian Williams Suspended for 6 Months. Retrieved April 17, 2015 from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/10/brian-williams-nbc-suspended/23200821/

[8] NBC News Alters Account of Correspondets Kidnapping in Syria . Retrieved Retreived April 17, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/business/media/nbc-news-alters-account-of-correspondents-kidnapping-in-syria.html?ref=media

[9] Pilot Season for ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, and NBC 2015-2016. Retreived April 17, 2015, 2014, from http://tvline.com/2015/01/29/pilot-season-abc-cbs-cw-fox-nbc-2015-2016/6/

[10] NBC Greenlight 10 Episode Futuristic Dramedy Apocalypse Starring Rob Lowe and Megan Mullaly. Retreived April 17, 2015, from http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/01/21/nbc-greenlights-10-episode-futuristic-dramedy-apocalypse-starring-rob-lowe-megan-mullally/353254/

[11]The Inside Story of the Civil War for the Soul of NBC News.Retreived April 17, 2015, from http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/04/nbc-news-brian-williams-scandal-comcast

[12] Comcast Repots 4th Quarter and End of the Year 2014 Results. Retreived April 17, 2015 from http://www.cmcsa.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=897872

Time Warner (TV/Cable channels only)

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Jesse Katzenstein

by JESSE KATZENSTEIN

[1]

Time Warner Inc.
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019-8016
212-484-8000
www.timewarner.com
[2]

About

Time Warner Inc. is one of the largest media corporations in the United States, specializing in TV, film, and entertainment. Its operating divisions consist of Turner Broadcasting System, Home Box Office Inc., and Warner Bros. Entertainment. [3]

Executives

Chairman and CEO – Jeff Bewkes

[4]

EVP and CFO – Howard M. Averill

Howard M. Averill Executive Vice President and CFO

[5]

EVP and General Counsel – Paul T. Cappuccio

Paul T. Cappuccio, Executive Vice President and General Counsel

[6]

Financials and Company Plans

Time Warner is a publicly traded company. In 2014, their revenue grew to $27.36 billion, which is up 3% from their 2013 annual revenue of $26.46 billion. [7] In the release of Time Warner’s Full Year 2014 Financial Results, Time Warner stated that their fourth quarter revenues decreased by 1% to $7.5 billion and can be attributable to a decrease in income from Warner Bros. It was also stated that Home Box Office Inc., or HBO, and Turner Broadcasting Company were responsible for counterbalancing an even larger decrease in revenue. [8]

In a story released by Bloomberg.com, it was said that CBS Corp. was thinking of a merger deal with Time Warner. CEO of CBS Corp., Leslie Moonves, is said to have mentioned the idea to CEO Jeff Bewkes in meetings between the two companies last year. [9] Critics claim this merger would benefit both companies regarding their position in sports broadcasting, and this powerful advantage would make this powerhouse “a good alternative for ESPN.” [10] However, Jeff Bewkes seems to be satisfied with keeping Time Warner and CBS separate.

Lulegacy.com released an article on April 16th revealing the results of 30 ratings firms who have been analyzing Time Warner’s stock. The average stock price target came out to $91.71. A little over two-thirds of the analysts put a “Buy” recommendation on the stock, while just 9 of the analysts gave the stock a “Hold” recommendation. [11]

HBO

[12]

According to Time Warner’s company website, HBO is the top domestic premium pay television service in the United States. This service offers both HBO programming and Cinemax programming. [13] HBO is known for its original television series such as Game Of Thrones, Girls, True Detective, and Silicon Valley. [14] Cinemax is known for its original television series such as The Knick, Banshee, and Strike Back. [15] Both services also offer programming of movies released theatrically. HBO’s most popular and successful show, Game Of Thrones, has won Primetime Emmy Awards in every year of its existence. [16] Its fifth and most current season debuted on April 12th of this year, but was subject to many news stories when almost half of the season was linked on illegal websites all over the world. Jeff Bewkes’ comments were surprisingly optimistic when he explained that these leaks can offset some paid advertising, and joked about how distributing the most pirated show in the world is “better than an Emmy.” [17]

On April 7th, Time Warner announced that HBO NOW is now available to Apple and Optimum Online customers. HBO NOW is HBO’s streaming service where consumers can stream all available episodes from their favorite HBO shows on all compatible devices. The service costs $14.99 per month, but if consumers purchase the service in the month of April, they are granted with a 30-day free trial. [18]

Turner Broadcasting System

[19]

Turner Broadcasting system controls and manages some of the leading television networks in the country. These networks cover programming in entertainment, news, sports, and animation, among other television genres. Turner’s networks TNT and TBS are most notably known for their broadcasting of major sporting events such as the NBA Playoffs and the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. [20]

TNT and TBS both had a huge turnout this year during the NCAA tournament. Time Warner released a statement on March 29th stating that the Kentucky vs. Notre Dame broke the record for the most-viewed and highest-rated college basketball game in cable TV history. As of that day, total viewership was up 2% from the previous year. [21] A little over a week later, the semifinal game between Kentucky and Wisconsin broke one of those records; the most-viewed college basketball game in cable TV history. Total audience for the Final Four across all networks (TBS, TNT, truTV) attained 41.7 million viewers, a 24% increase from 2014. [22]

As for original content, Turner delivers the #1 comedy with adults 18-49 in The Big Bang Theory (TBS), and delivers the #1 original animated series in Mr. Pickles and Squidbillies (Adult Swim). For kids, Cartoon Network is the leading channel that holds “49 of basic cable’s top 50 telecasts for young boys.” Turner recently announced a revamp of the Cartoon Network live streaming app in Australia called Cartoon Network Watch and Play. [23]

In the news genre, CNN is Turner’s premier news network. It is one of the first 24-hour news networks that provides breaking news across all media platforms. Its popular programs include Anderson Cooper 360, Newsroom, Situation Room, and State of the Union. [24]

Warner Bros. Entertainment

[25]

Warner Bros. Entertainment is a studio responsible for Time Warner’s influence in the TV, film, and home entertainment industries, as well as being a global distribution company. [26] For it’s work in film, 2014 became the 14th consecutive year Warner Bros. Picture Groups grossed $1 billion or more at both the domestic and international box office. [27] It has also done what no other studio has done, which is gross over $3 billion at the international box office for two consecutive years. On March 30th, Warner Bros. reported their new agreement with Redbox, a company that provides self-service kiosks for consumers to purchase movies and video games on various platforms. There are 35,000 kiosks across the country. This two-year agreement leaves a 28-day window for consumers to purchase Warner Bros. films on Blu-ray and DVD. [28]

The Future for Time Warner

The future may or may not be bright for Time Warner. At this point in the year, their action plan should be to play the waiting game and see how all of their assets perform. There are high hopes for the current season of Game Of Thrones despite the leaking scandal. Warner Bros. has an exciting lineup of movies coming out in late spring/early summer including The Water Diviner, Pan, Magic Mike XXL, and San Andreas.

Sources

[1] – Time Warner Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[2] – Time Warner Contact Info, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[3] – Time Warner Inc. Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[4] – Jeff Bewkes Bio Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[5] – Howard M. Averill Bio Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[6] – Paul T. Cappuccio Bio Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[7] – Time Warner Annual Earnings, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[8] – Time Warner Q4/Full Year 2014 Results, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[9] – “Moonves Said To Have Mulled Time Warner Deal As CBS Plots,” Bloomberg Business, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[10] – “Karmazin: CBS and Time Warner Inc. Need To Merge,” Fierce Cable, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[11] – “Time Warner Recieves $91.71 Consensus Price Target From Brokerages,” The Legacy, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[12] – HBO Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[13] – HBO Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[14] – HBO Website, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[15] – Cinemax Website, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[16] – Game Of Thrones Awards List, IMDb, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[17] – “Game Of Thrones Season 5 Premiere Set Rating Record Despite Episode Leak,” Forbes, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[18] – HBO NOW Press Release, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[19] – Turner Broadcasting System Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[20] – Turner Broadcasting System Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[21] – “2015 NCAA Scores Highest Average Viewership in 22 Years,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[22] – “2015 Final Four Semifinals Reach More Than 41 Million Viewers,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[23] – “Cartoon Network Activates Live Streaming App,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[24] – List of CNN TV Shows, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[25] – Warner Bros. Entertainment Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[26] – Warner Bros. Entertainment Company Website, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[27] – Warner Bros. Entertainment Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[28] – “Redbox, Warner Bros. Announce New Agreement,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

21st Century Fox

Gallery

Posted on October 5, 2014 by lortegat

This gallery contains 12 photos.

by Erika Zoffer HISTORY 21st Century Fox is one of the two companies that were created by the split of News Corporation, a multimedia company founded by media mogul, Rupert Murdock, in 1979. Last year, the company finalized the separation … Continue reading →

Cablevision

Link

by Steven Spohr

Summary

Source – Cablevision.com

Founded in 1973, Cablevision Systems Corporation is a leading telecommunications company that primarily offers television, phone, and Internet services to millions in the NY metropolitan area. Initially serving a mere 1,500 customers on Long Island, Cablevision has since expanded to offer WiFi, a leading local newspaper, and business communications solutions to its over 3 million subscribers. Former properties include Madison Square Garden and Rainbow Media Holdings. [1]

Source – Optimum.com

Cablevision’s television, phone, Internet, WiFi, and business solutions all operate under the ‘Optimum’ brand name. These include (but are not limited to) –

Optimum TV – exclusive home of News 12 Networks, a series of local news channels
Optimum Voice
Optimum Online
Optimum WiFi
Optimum Lightpath – a “leading provider of integrated business communications solutions that meets the needs of larger companies” [1]

Source – www.newsday.com/

Cablevision also owns Newsday Media Group, which runs two local papers. Newsday is a Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper that has been in circulation since 1940. Over 70% of Long Island adults read Newsday, and its articles and reporting have won numerous awards and made it the top paper on Long Island. To provide the most local news possible, Newsday works closely with MSG Varsity (part of the News 12 Networks) to provide detailed coverage of local high school and college sports. amNewYork offers a quick read of city news and events. In addition to the papers, NMG owns Star Community Publishing, which producers weekly shopper publications in Long Island and Queens. It is the largest publisher of its kind in the Northeastern United States. [2]

Leadership

The Dolan family founded Cablevision and continues to lead the company today. Key personnel include [3] –

Charles Dolan – Founder and Chairman / Source – Sean Smith, The Boston College Chronicle

James Dolan – Chief Executive Officer / Source – Al Iannazzone, Newsday.com

Kristin Dolan – Chief Operating Officer / Source – Variety.com

Brian Sweeney – President / Source – POST Online Media

Gregg Seibert – Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer / Source – Business Wire

Hank Ratner – Vice Chairman / Source – The Madison Square Garden Company

Financials

A detailed map of Cablevision’s stock pricing in 2014. / Source – Yahoo! Finance

2014 has seen Cablevision’s stock (CVC) prices gradually increase throughout the year. Starting the year at $17.22/share, CVC stock stands at $20.32/share as of November 29th. February 3rd saw the year’s low of $15.85. Prices peaked in late July, mid-September, and late November. [4]

The following financial information is from Cablevision’s Third Quarter 2014 Results.

Net revenue increased 3.7% to $1.62 billion.
Cable advertising revenue grew 6.8%
Average Monthly Cable Revenue per Customer increased 5.7% to $154.50/customer/month. [5]

These figures represent a continued loss of subscribers for Cablevision across the board. Between satellite TV providers, rival phone companies, and the public’s shift to watching TV online, Cablevision’s audience is becoming fragmented. The company chose to increase its subscription rates in response to decreasing numbers, which is represented by the net revenue and AMCR/C increases. [6]

Recent News

The latter half of 2014 has been a busy one, with notable hirings, financial news, legal troubles, and more.

August 4th

August 4th saw Cablevision’s announcement that it has hired David Dibble as Chief Technology Officer, a newly-created role. Dibble is formerly of Yahoo!, and his hiring is part of Cablevision’s efforts to “become the premier connectivity provider in the market, delivering a peerless customer experience”. [7]

November 7th

A New York Times article revealed a major legal proceeding against Cablevision. The National Labor Relations Board has charged Cablevision CEO James Dolan with “illegally threatening to deny company technicians in Brooklyn a pay increase unless they voted to quit their union”. The NLRB also charged Cablevision itself with “illegally [undermining] the union’s representation of those workers by sponsoring a nonbinding poll to determine whether they wanted to leave their union”, while some workers reported they were being ‘spied on’ during the vote. Federal law states that such a vote can only be conducted by the labor board, not the company. CEO Dolan fired back, calling the NLRB “a tool of Big Labor” and questioning the validity of its findings. The case is ongoing, and Cablevision has stated it will appeal to federal courts, if necessary. [8]

CEO Dolan has plenty of reasons to be frustrated, especially with his ongoing legal troubles with the National Labor Relations Board. / Source – ESPN.com

November 11th

Cablevision teamed up with Time Warner Cable to release the first ever “New York Television Audience Insights Report”. The report sampled the 3.5 million subcribers of Cablevision and TWC in the New York area, which is half of the TV homes in the region. Its aim was to help advertising and marketing departments and companies get better value out of their advertising purchases. Some key findings include –

74% of all TV programming watched was outside of traditional TV ‘prime time’ (8-11PM).
On average, a subscriber will only watch 25 channels in a month.
a whopping 90% of all viewing comes from a mere 100 channels. [9]

These new insights will help create better statistics for TV viewership and aid advertisers in spending money more efficiently.

November 18th

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city is planning an extensive new WiFi network across the five boroughs. The project, dubbed LinkNYC, would provide not only free WiFi, but also no-cost domestic calling and video chat. The 10,000 hotspot system would replace the city’s decaying network of archaic payphones and operate completely with money generated through advertising. Projected to cost around $200 million, LinkNYC would bring in over $500 million over the next twelve years, according to city officials.

This announcement led some to think Cablevision’s Optimum WiFi network would be threatened by this new, massive competition. Cablevision officials have not only dismissed these musings, but have actively worked with New York City on a number of initiatives, possibly including LinkNYC itself. [10]

Mayor-Elect De Blasio Makes Announcement

Mayor de Blasio’s ambitious project looks to dramatically improve WiFi services within the five boroughs. / Source – PIX 11

November 22nd

The Lewisboro Ledger revealed that Cablevision has a new deal with the town of Lewisboro (Westchester County). The deal, which primarily concerns franchising fees, has a number of key improvements –

Over $270,000 in new franchising fees are expected in 2015.
Free cable would be provided to 16 municipal and school buildings, including the public library.
New offers would include a senior discount for those aged sixty-five and older.
Town Board meetings would become available for live-streaming.
The town’s parks and baseball fields will become WiFi-equipped. [11]

November 25th

Kids video-on-demand network Kabillion announced a carriage deal with Cablevision. Kabillion, which is the only independently-owned VOD network ranked in the Top 10 Kids Free On Demand list, will now reach over 50 million homes nationwide. The deal is beneficiary to Cablevision too, as Kabillion reports views exceeding 65 million in 2014. [12]

Bibliography

Disney-ABC

Posted on April 21, 2014 by eamoomey

By Nicolas Claro

Company History

On January 4^th, 1996, Michael Eisner and the Walt Disney Company came to an agreement with Capital Cities/ABC on a merger between the two companies, forming what is known today as Disney-ABC TV [1]. In addition to ABC Television Network, Disney-ABC owns multiple cable channels including Disney Channel Disney XD, ABC Family and ABC News, as well as a controlling stake in ESPN and an equity holding in A+E Networks.

Corporate

ANNE SWEENEY

Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks
President, Disney/ABC Television Group (2005-2015)

KEVIN BROCKMAN

Executive Vice President, Global Communications, Disney/ABC Television Group

REBECCA CAMPBELL

President, ABC Owned Television Stations Group

PAUL LEE

President, ABC Entertainment Group

GARY MARSH

President and Chief Creative Officer, Disney Channels Worldwide

BEN SHERWOOD

Co-President, Disney/ABC Television Group (2010-2015),

Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks
President, Disney/ABC Television Group (2015-)

[2]

Q1 EARNINGS

The Walt Disney Company’s first quarter of the fiscal year ended on December 28, 2013. Since the first quarter of the 2013 fiscal year, The Walt Disney Company’s media networks have seen a 4% increase in revenue, and an operating income increase of nearly 20%. However, the company saw a decrease of almost $85 million in income, due in large part to contractual rate increases to Modern Family and other long-tenured shows on the network. [3]

PROGRAMMING

The cast and crew of Modern Family winning their fourth Emmy in four years. [4]

Disney-ABC has done a very fine job of diversifying their TV offerings, broadcasting programs for every sort of viewer imaginable. The company’s two most popular offerings are 4-time Emmy winner Modern Family [4] and the company’s longest running primetime drama, Grey’s Anatomy. In addition, ABC has created successful shows based on existing third-party content, such as Once Upon a Time and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC also airs a large number of successful unscripted shows, such as The Bachelor and Dancing With The Stars, talk-shows in both the morning (The View) and late-night (Jimmy Kimmel Live!), live college football and NBA games, and national news shows such as Good Morning America.

Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes (left) and the show’s star Kerry Washington. Rhimes also created ABC’s long running Grey’s Anatomy. [5]

ABC Family and the various Disney channels offer popular youth-oriented series such as Pretty Little Liars and the cartoon Gravity Falls.

In this upcoming season, Disney-ABC plans to bolster its broadcast schedule even further by collaborating with well-respected directors and producers such as David O. Russell and Bryan Singer on the shows The Club [6] and Black Box [7] , respectively.

Director Bryan Singer, well known for his directorial work on the X-Men films, is bringing a show to ABC this year. [8]

New King of Late Night?

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel (Left) and NBC’s Jimmy Fallon (Right) [9]

On April 3, 2014, Late Night host David Letterman announced his retirement from the show, and from late-night TV in 2015. Stephen Colbert will replace him on CBS in the same time slot after his departure. [10] With David Letterman’s retirement in 2015, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel will have the longest active run of late night hosting on broadcast TV with a consecutive 11 years on the air. Along with Colbert, Kimmel has already begun competing with the recently appointed Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on NBC, who’s show shares a timeslot with Kimmel.

So far, among the two shows, The Tonight Show has dominated in TV ratings. However, Jimmy Kimmel Live is fast on Fallon’s heels in the digital department. After a stellar debut week (avg 6.2 million viewers), Fallon’s ratings have come back to Earth (avg 1.8 million viewers in its 2^nd week). A report from Nielsen “SocialGuide”’s data, the number of impressions on Twitter for each show are comparable, and Kimmel’s uptick in viewership means that the margin between the two shows is closer than you think. These two talk-show stalwarts look to be set to compete for years to come, and ready to take on all challengers. [11].

The End of an Era?

Will this Aereo antennae (left) be the end of TV as we know it? [12]

On February 14, 2012, a company called Aereo created a product that was designed, in their eyes, to be the future of television. Aereo created a mini-sized antennae that effectively replaced a cable box and allowed consumers to “break free” from cable companies [12], all for a very affordable price of $80 a year. However, by doing so, Aereo was breaking many rules by not paying retransmission fees to the networks it carried, something that the cable providers are required to do. As such, cable companies swarmed Aereo with suits and injunctions within months, but to no avail [13]. 2+ years later, Aereo is still operational, and now more faces have joined in the fight against them, including ABC.

Aereo founder Chet Kanojia [15]

Specifically, their case against Aereo is set to go to Supreme Court review on April 22, 2014, and will likely be resolved by the end of June. If they lose, Aereo could be a signal of what is to come, with other startups following suit, and ducking retransmission fees. However, even if the networks win this battle, has the issue gained enough traction that it has gone down an irreversible path? Many Aereo subscribers, and consumers fed up with their cable companies, are embracing this new technology and championing it as the next big thing. Nobody knows just how this case will play out, but everyone knows that the repercussions will be massive [15][14]

Fighting Fire with Fire

: Scandal’s growing social media numbers

Scandal’s growing social media numbers [16]

Recent advances in broadcast technology have seriously hindered TV’s chances at remaining a top broadcast medium in the past few years. Internet piracy, DVR and online streaming services have all impeded on the television’s reign atop the media market. However, it seems that ABC has found a way to turn the tables and use these new developments to their advantage.

The best example of this is ABC’s smash hit show Scandal. ABC has allowed the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, to run rampant on social media, and she does so with finesse. Her constant involvement and interaction with fans throughout the show’s run has led to a massive social media following for everyone from Rhimes, to the show’s star, Kerry Washington, to Scandal’s official social media accounts.

To show just how astronomical its rise has been, take Scandal’s social media growth from its premiere up to the third season finale on April 17, 2014. At the former, Scandal had about 500,000 connections on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube combined. As of the third season finale, Scandal has 1.4 million views on its official Youtube page, 2.6 million followers on Twitter and almost 5 million fans on Facebook. As you would expect, Scandal’s most popular demographic is in the 18-49 range, who – not so coincidentally – are the demographic most present on social media networks [16].

Works Cited

[1] THE MEDIA BUSINESS;Disney and ABC Shareholders Solidly Approve Merger Deal

[2] All portraits courtesy of disneyabctv.com

[3] THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REPORTS FIRST QUARTER EARNINGS FOR FISCAL 2014

[4] Modern Family – The Television Academy

[5] girltalkhq – ‘Scandal’ & ‘Greys Anatomy’ Creator Shonda Rhimes To Receive Diversity Award

[6] Deadline – Soapy Drama From David O. Russell & Susannah Grant Gets ABC Series Order

[7] Deadline – Bryan Singer To Direct & Exec Produce CBS Series ‘Battle Creek’ From Vince Gilligan & David Shore

[8] IMDB – Bryan Singer photos

[9] tvovermind – Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Agree To Play Nice

[10] CBSNews – Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman on “Late Show”

[11] thewrap.com – Jimmy Fallon vs. Jimmy Kimmel: The New Late Night Fight, by the Numbers

[12] “Love is in the Aereo” – Aereo.com press release

[13] “Aereo Prevails” – Aereo.com press release

[14] USAToday – Supreme Court case could test future of broadcast TV

[15] Fortune – What happens if broadcasters lose the Aereo case?

[16] How Social Media Helps Drive ABC’s ‘Scandal’

CBS Corps.

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Maggie O'Reilly

By Maggie O'Reilly

CBS Corporation

CBS Logo, photo courtesy of forbes.com

CBS Headquarters
51 W. 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019-6188
1-212-975-43211-212-975-4321

http://www.cbscorporation.com/

About CBS Corporation [1]

CBS Corporation is a mass media corporation, primarily operated in the United States. Originally founded as Viacom in 1971, the modern-day CBS Corporation is the result the 2005 split of Viacom into two publicly traded companies. With the split, CBS Corporation retained the rights to all CBS broadcast networks as well as pay-cable stations. Their current television assets include CBS, Showtime, and CBS Sports Network. They also have a 50/50 share of the CW with Time Warner’s Warner Bros division.

Key Executives [2]

Sumner M. Redstone, photo courtesy of CBS Corporate website

Sumner M. Redstone: Sumner M. Redstone serves as Chairman of the Board of both CBS Corporation and Viacom. He assumed these roles after the 2005 split of Viacom into two separate companies. Prior to the split, Redstone had served as Chairman of the Board of Viacom since 1987 and CEO of Viacom since 1996. Currently, he is the controlling shareholder of both companies.

Leslie Moonves, photo courtesy of CBS Corporate website

Leslie Moonves: Leslie Moonves is President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation. He was was named CEO of CBS Corporation upon its creation in 2005. Prior to this, he had served as CEO of CBS Television since 1998 and was briefly Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom from 2004 to 2005.

Financials

CBS Corporation has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since January 3, 2006. On March 6th, 2014, their stock price hit an all time high, reaching $67.55. Since then, the stock price has been steadily decreasing. Their current stock price is $60.64.[3]

photo courtesy of nasdaq.com

In the 2013 fiscal year, CBS earned revenues of $15.3 billion with net earnings of
1.9 billion, a strong 19.4% increase from their 2012 net earnings. At the end of the 2013 fiscal year, CBS Corporation’s assets were valued at 26.4 billion while their debts are currently calculated at roughly 6.5 billion. [4]

Assets [5]

.CBS: The CBS broadcast network, formerly the Columbia Broadcasting System, first launched as a radio network in 1927. Currently, CBS is one of the “Big Four” television networks, competing with NBC, ABC, and FOX.

.Showtime: CBS Corporation’s premium-cable channel, Showtime, launched on July 1, 1976. The original Showtime channel has served as a flagship for Showtime Networks, which now consists of over 10 premium cable channels, including The Movie Channel, FLIX, and Smithsonian Networks.

The CW: The CW was launched on September 18, 2006. The CW is the result of merger between UPN (formerly operated by CBS) and the WB (formerly operated by Warner Bros). The CW’s target demographic skews a bit younger than CBS and Showtime networks.

CBS Sports: CBS Sports is sports-oriented cable channel that was originally launched as the National College Sports Network in 2002. In 2011, the channel was re-branded as CBS Sports Network. The channel currently airs the PGA tour, US tennis, NCAA basketball, and college football.

Top Rated Programming

The CBS Television Network, has been #1 in total viewers for 10 of the past 11 years. [6] This is largely due to CBS’s successful prime-time lineup. Currently, CBS airs television’s #1 drama, NCIS. During the first week of February 2014 sweeps, NCIS brought in an impressive 19.53 viewers. CBS also airs several other acclaimed television dramas, including NCIS: Los Angeles, Blue Bloods, and Person of Interest. [7]

Cast of NCIS, photo courtesy of nbcpressexpress.com

CBS is also home to television’s #1 sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. In the first week of February 2014 sweeps, The Big Bang Theory drew in 17.53 million viewer whereas ABC’s best performing sitcom, Modern Family, only attracted 9.87 million viewers. CBS also airs several other incredibly successful sitcoms, including 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, and Two and a Half Men. [8] [9]

Cast of The Big Bang Theory, photo courtesy of nbcpressexpress.com

In the week of April 7th, 2014, it was reported by Nielsen that 7 of the weeks top 10 broadcasts aired on CBS, helping to further cement CBS as the top rated channel on television. [10]

CBS in the News

How I Met Your Mother Ends Legendary Nine Year Run

Cast of How I Met Your Mother, photo courtest of cbspressexpress.com

Cast of How I Met Your Mother, photo courtesy of cbspressexpress.com

CBS’s long running sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, came to an end on March 31st, 2014 after nine successful seasons. The series followed the lives of main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends living in Manhattan. During How I Met Your Mother’s nine season run, it received 28 Emmy Award nominations, of which it won 9. The series also turned several of its stars into household names, including Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel. The series finale was met with mixed reviews from critics and fans. While some praised the finale for tying up loose ends, others were left disappointed, believing that the writers disregarded nine seasons of character development. Despite the mixed reaction, How I Met Your Mother’s series finale was the highest rated episode of the series, drawing in 13.13 million total viewers. It was also the #1 18-49 broadcast during the week that it aired, with a 5.4 rating. [11] [12] [13] [14]

NCAA Basketball Tournament Draws In Big Numbers for CBS

NCAA Division I Championship Game, photo courtesy of CBS philadelphia

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball championship game aired on CBS on April 7th, 2014, drawing in an impressive 21.2 million viewers and a 7.2 rating in the 18-49 demo. However, the UConn vs Kentucky game did not beat the numbers of the 2013 championship game between Louisville and Michigan, which brought in 23.4 million viewers. The rest of the tournament games averaged 9.3 million viewers, which is a 3% increase over 2013 numbers. [15] [16]

David Letterman Announces Late Show Retirement, Stephen Colbert Named as Replacement

Long time Late Show host David Letterman announced his retirement from the program on April 3rd, 2014. Letterman, who has hosted the show since August 1993, will leave his position as host of the Late Show when his contract expires in 2015. The news of his retirement comes not long after the retirement of his foremost late night competitor, Jay Leno, who hosted his last episode of NBC’s The Tonight Show on February 6, 2014. Jay Leno has since been succeeded by the much younger Jimmy Fallon, who has been averaging an impressive 1.53 rating in viewers 18-49 since taking over. Comparatively, Letterman has been averaging a .56 rating in the same time period. [17] [18]

Stephen Colbert (left) and David Letterman (right), photo courtesy of yahoo.com

On April 10th, 2014, CBS announced that they plan to replace David Letterman with Stephen Colbert, who currently hosts The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Interestingly, The Colbert Report has also been averaging a .56 rating among 18-49 year olds. Reactions to CBS’s decision to bring Stephen Colbert on as host of The Late Show have been mixed. While many agree that Colbert is definitely comedically competent enough to take over The Late Show desk, some wonder if CBS missed an opportunity to change the current trajectory of late night. [19] [20]

On The Horizon

CBS Renews Most of its Lineup
CBS recently renewed 18 of its current programs, including favorites like The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, Elementary, and Two and a Half Men. CBS also renewed several newcomers, including The Millers and Mom. [21]

current CBS schedule, courtesy of cbs.com

Thursday Night Football
In February, CBS won the bid to air Thursday night football this upcoming fall. This will certainly affect their current schedule, as their #1 sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, currently airs on Thursday nights. Nevertheless, CBS plans to broadcast eight Thursday night games this fall. [22]

Sources

[1] CBS Corp, About CBS, Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[2] CBS Corp, Executives, Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[3] Google Finance, CBS, Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[4] CBS Corp, SEC Filings 2014 10-k Annual Report, Retrieved April 15th 2014

[5] CBS Corp, “Our Portfolio” Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[6] CBS Corp, “Leslie Moonves” Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[7] TV by the Numbers, “Tuesday Final Ratings: ‘NCIS’, ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ & ‘The Originals’ Adjusted Up; ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’, ‘ The Goldbergs’. ‘Supernatural’ & ‘Trophy Wife’ Adjusted Down” Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[8] TV by the Numbers, “Thursday Final Ratings: ‘The Big Bang Theory’, ‘American Idol’, ‘Two and a Half Men’ & the Olympics Adjusted Up; ‘The Millers’ Adjusted Down” Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[9] TV by the Numbers, “Wednesday Final Ratings: ‘Super Fun NIght’ Adjusted Down”, Retrieved April 15th, 2014

[10] Nielsen, Top Ten, Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[11] TV by the Numbers, “TV Ratings Broadcast Top 25: ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Tops Week 28 With Adults 18-49; ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Leads Total Viewers” Retrieved April 18th, 2014

[12] Time, “How I Met Your Mother Watch: Mate and Switch”, Retrieved April 18th, 2014

[13] The Guardian, “How I Met Your Mother: the latest show to fail in the search for a perfect ending” Retrieved April 18th, 2014

[14] DailyMail, “SPOILER ALERT: A wedding, a funeral and a French horn… How I Met Your Mother delivers a legendary series finale” Retrieved April 18th, 2014

[15] Forbes, “March Madness Ratings and Revenue Keep Reaching New Heights” Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[16] CBS, “2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Averaging 9.3 Million Total Viewers; Highest Viewership in 21 Years”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[17] The Wall Street Journal, “David Letterman Announces Retirement from CBS’s ‘Late Show'”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[18] TV by the Numbers, “Late Night TV Ratings For April 7-April 11, 2014”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014.

[19] CBS, “CBS ANNOUNCES STEPHEN COLBERT AS THE NEXT HOST OF THE “LATE SHOW”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014.

[20] USA Today, “Will real Colbert be a loser on ‘Late Show’?”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[21] The Hollywood Reporter, “CBS Renews 18 More Shows for 2014-15 Season”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014

[22] CBS Sports, “CBS to broadcast eight Thursday night football games in 2014”, Retrieved April 20th, 2014.

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Discovery Communications

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Parker Davis

By Parker Davis

Discovery Communications Logo- image courtesy of givingtuesday.org

Overview [1] [2]

TLC Logo- image courtesy of businessinsider.com

John Hendricks originally founded Discovery Communications under the name Appalachian Community Service Network in 1982. The first station launched was The Learning Channel, an educational station for youths and adults alike. When the company changed its name to Discovery Communications in 1985, other education based channels were established such as the Discovery Channel and the first 24/7 HD basic cable channel, Discovery HD, currently known as Velocity [1]. Today, Discovery Communications is the world’s #1 subscription based television network, reaching over 2 billion subscribers in 220 countries. They own over 200 television stations including: the Science Channel, Animal Planet, and OWN. Outside of television, Discovery Communications is also a large publisher of educational books and operates online media channels such as Revision3 and howstuffworks.com [2].

Executives [3]

John S. Hendricks- image courtesy of corporate.discovery.com

John S. Hendricks: Founder and Chairman Discovery Communications

David M. Zaslav- image courtesy of corporate.discovery.com

David M. Zaslav: President and CEO Discovery Communications

Jean Briac Perette- image courtesy of corporate.discovery.com

Jean Briac (JB) Perette: President Discovery Networks International

Financials [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Discovery Communications is publicly traded under three stock series: DISCA, DISCB, and DISCK. Each ticker symbol translates to series A, B, and C stock. The newer issuances indicate a new corporate milestone, thus returning a higher company valuation number, resulting in a higher IPO for the new distribution of shares. DISCA contains the most shareholders. Within the previous three months, DISCA prices ranged from $76.80 to $85.97. Currently, it is recovering from its lowest point in the period, occurring April 15, 2014, and slowly increased 1.7% to $77.83 on April 18 [4].

Comparison of DISCA, DISCB, DISCK over a three month period- courtesy bloomberg.com

Comparison of DISCA, DISCB, DISCK- image courtesy of bloomberg.com

In the Annual Financial Statement for 2013, total revenue equated to $5.54 billion. A 19% increase over 2012, which generated $4.49 billion, a mere 8% increase over 2011 [5]. This growth is credited in their recent “acquisition of the majority stake in Eurosport International will drive international to contributing more than 50 percent of total company revenue” [6]. Discovery Communications possesses only 1% of total market share, competing alongside other media conglomerates such as: A&E, NBCUniversal, and Viacom [7] [8].

Retirement and the Curiosity Project [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

John S. Hendricks- image courtesy of curiosityretreats.com

Discovery founder and chairman, John Hendricks, officially announced his retirement in March. He will formally resign during the annual shareholder’s meeting on May 16; however, he has not released who will take his place as chairman. Although, sources speculate that current CEO, David Zaslav, may be a potential candidate for the position [9]. In his retirement letter to the board of directors, Hendricks explained that he will “spend the next few years traveling the planet and discovering the questions and mysteries that intrigue us all.” He will also use the opportunity to expand his new business, Curiosity Project LLC, announced February 10 of this year [10].

The mission of Curiosity Retreats is to create a unique forum where the lifelong curious can gather to explore in-depth the great questions of today. [11]

Curiosity Video Overview (Vimeo)

One currently operational aspect of the project is retreats for inspirational and open- minded thinkers alike. The retreats are five nights long at the Gateway Canyons resort in Colorado, including a panel of 8 different experts in the field of: science, technology, civilization, and human spirit [12]. The purpose of the retreat is to enlighten already intellectual minds and expand their imagination by collaborating and with others.

Gateway Canyons- image courtesy of multivu.com

The new aspect of Hendricks’ venture is video on demand. His plan is to compile recordings of the experts from the retreats and publish their talks online for an annual fee of $19.99. However, this venture may prove impractical because there are already free services similar to his found in university publications and intellectual websites, such as TED [13].

Hendricks founded Discovery in 1982 and stepped down as CEO in 2004 and began his role as chairman on the board of directors. He was with the company for 32 years [14].

Eurosport [15] [16] [17]

Eurosport Logo- image courtesy of 3.bp.blogspot.com

Discovery Communications is expanding its international affiliations by moving into the televised sports market. On January 21, Discovery purchased controlling share (51%) in Eurosport for $1.2 billion [15]. Since April 2013, Discovery owned 20% stake in the station. The extension was made in a monetary agreement with TF1, a French television network and previous majority owner of Eurosport. The purpose of Discovery’s equity increase is to compete with British Sky Broadcasting and BT, a UK cable provider, for exclusive Premier League television rights [16]. Discovery chose to expand its control over sporting networks so it can combine its international sports rights with its US based stations to avoid competing head on with domestic sporting networks. The new international acquisitions expand Discovery’s network portfolio, thus inflating revenue and control over the total media market [17].

DogTV [18] [19] [20]

DogTV Logo- image courtesy of dogtv.com

Discovery Communications has recently purchased an unspecified percentage of DogTV: a 2 year old network that targets the dog owner demographic and airs content specifically for pet entertainment. The station is distributed through DirecTV and has a subscription fee of $5 for television viewing and $10 for online streaming [17]. Current programming on the network includes 3-6 minute clips focused on a dog’s relaxation, stimulation, and exposure. Discovery Communications has developed a strategic partnership with DogTV, jointly creating similar programming for Animal Planet while spreading the reach of the network to other countries. This tactic by Discovery can be seen as a gamble to invest in television for dogs, however, over 43.3 million US households own at least one dog, collectively spending over $55.8 billion annually on pet products, and over half of which claim their dogs show interest in what occurs on television [18]. The channel is designed to relieve the stress and anxiety of stay at home pets [19].

DogTV in The News (YouTube)

New Form [21] [22] [23]

Left to Right: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Zaslav- image courtesy variety.com

Discovery has co-founded and launched a new digital media site, New Form, alongside producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer [21]. The purpose of the studio is to infiltrate the scripted media market, whereas Discovery contains mainly non-fiction and reality based content. In the startup, the firm appointed Kathleen Grace, former Head of Creative Development for YouTube Space LA, as the Chief Creative Officer for New Form [22]. The videos created will be used in conjunction with current Discovery Digital Networks rather than creating a new site from the ground up. The venture was also announced the same week as Discovery’s upfront presentations to entice advertisers about the concept. Today, media advertisers divide their capital between television and online mediums, serving as a potentially dramatic advertisement revenue increase for Discovery. Zaslav is making the push for Discovery to move into the Internet realm to make their channels easily accessible on all platforms for anyone to use [23].

Interview with David Zaslav and Ron Howard on New Form (Bloomberg)

Works Cited:

[1] Discovery Communications Founder John Hendricks to Retire as Chairman of Company’s Board. Discovery Communications. March 20, 2014. RT: April 13, 2014.

[2] Overview & Mission. Discovery Communications. RT: April 13, 2014.

[3] Leadership. Discovery Communications. RT: April 13, 2014.

[4] Google Finance Data. Google. RT: April 15, 2014.

[5] 2013 Annual Report. Discovery Communications. RT: April 15, 2014.

[6] Discovery CEO touts International Growth, Outlook. The Hollywood Reporter. Georg Szalai. April 3, 2014. RT: April 15, 2014.

[7] Introduction to the Entertainment & Media Industry. Plunkett Research, Ltd. RT: April 15, 2014. Used to calculate total market share.

[8] Top Competitors for Discovery Communications, Inc.. Hoovers. RT: April 15, 2014

[9] Discovery Communications Chairman John Hendricks stepping down. Los Angeles Times. Joe Flint. March, 20 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[10] John Hendricks Retirement Letter. John S. Hendricks. March 20, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[11] Curiosity Mission Statement. Curiosity Retreats. RT: April 17, 2014.

[12] Curiosity About Page. Curiosity Retreats. RT: April 17, 2014.

[13] Discovery chairman John Hendricks to step down to pursue lifelong learning academy. Washington Post. Dan Beyers. March 23, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[14] Cable Pioneer John Hendricks to Retire From Discovery Communications. Variety. Cynthia Littleton. March 20, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[15] Discovery Takes Controlling Stake in Eurosport. New York Times. David Gelles. January 21, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[16] Eurosport owner Discovery considering Premier League TV rights bid. The Guardian. Mark Sweney. January 24, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014

[17] Discovery to Take Control of Eurosport International. The Hollywood Reporter. Georg Szalai. January 21, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014

[18] Discovery Acquires Stake in DogTV, a Network Aimed at Canine Viewers. Variety. Todd Spangler. April 8, 2014. RT:April 18, 2014.

[19] Discovery Wants Your Dog To Watch More TV. Bloomberg Businessweek. Kyle Stock. April 8, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[20] Discovery Buys Stake In A TV Channel For Dogs. Huffington Post. Bill Bradley. April 11, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[21] Discovery teams with Howard, Grazer for online shows. USA Today. Roger Yu. April 3, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[22] Brian Grazer, Ron Howard Launch ‘New Form’ Digital Studio With Discovery. The Hollywood Reporter. Natalie Jarvey. April 2, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[23] Howard, Grazer to team with Discovery on Web shows. New York Post. Claire Atkinson. April 2, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

Discovery Communications

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Sebastian Dawson

By Sebastian Dawson

Discovery Communications – MediaWiki

courtesy FanPop.com

1 Discovery Place

Silver Spring, MD 20910

240.662.2000

Corporate.discovery.com

Fact Sheet

courtesy Corporate.Discovery.com

Highlights:

Cumulative Global Subscribers: 2.2 billion
Countries and Territories: 224
Languages: 45
Network Entertainment Brands: 50

Key Executives

courtesy Corporate.Discovery.com

John S. Hendricks

Founder of Discovery Communication

The driving force behind dramatic growth at Discovery Communications, Hendricks expanded the Discovery Channel from its core property to its current status as a global content provider. (2)

Courtesy Corporate.Discovery.com

David Zaslav

President and CEO

Prior to Discovery, Zaslav enjoyed a distinguished career at NBC Universal. He now sets strategy and oversees operation of Discovery Communications around the world. (3)

Courtesy Corporate.Discovery.com

Mark Hollinger

President and CEO

As President of Discovery Networks International, it is Hollinger’s job to deploy strategic development and daily operations in over 200 countries. Hollinger joined Discovery in 1991 as Vice President and Deputy General Council. (4)

Courtesy Commons.Wikimedia.org

Brief History

Discovery Communications, Inc. is the world’s premier nonfiction media company. It began as a single channel in 1985, but that single channel has evolved into a global media headquarters. Today, the company offers more than 100 programs in over 200 countries (6). DCI’s 28 network entertainment brands include:

Networks

Discovery Channel

Dedicated to nonfiction, informative content. Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters, and Planet Earth all appear on this channel (7).

Courtesy IMDB.com

Animal Planet

The only multi-platform entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of the animal kingdom. AP has programming like Whale Wars, River Monsters, and Pit Bulls and Parolees (9).

Courtesy Animal Planet

The Military Channel

The Military tells real-world stories of heroism and history. Popular programming includes Future Weapons, and Science of the Elite Soldier (10).

Courtesy DesiRulez.net

The Learning Channel

TLC is a global brand that celebrates life’s special moments. TLC is a top 10 cable network in the United States female demographic, and features programming like Cake Boss, Sister Wives, and Extreme Couponing (8).

Courtesy TLC.com

Velocity

Velocity is a newer, high-octane cable network aimed at men. With more than 400 hours of premiere viewing time, shows like Inside West Coast Customs, Chasing Classic Cars, and How It’s Made: Dream Cars made their debut on Velocity (11).

Courtesy Discovery Programs

Financials

Discovery owes it to its investors to make smart and economically sound decisions throughout the year. Discovery has been successful in doing this, especially this quarter. Zaslav attributed the success to the “breadth and depth of our brands and the myriad of opportunities across our global distribution platform,” (12).

Courtesy Corporate.Discovery.com

Third Quarter 2013 Highlights:

Revenues increased 28% to $1.375 million, as compared to third quarter last year (12).
Net Income increased 24% to $255 million, as compared to $205 million for the third quarter of last year (12).

Exclusive

Shark Week!

Shark Week is an enormously popular special on the Discovery Channel every summer. This weeklong of programming dedicated to the killer of the seas is the longest running cable television event in history. Its popularity can be partially attributed to its ability to harness the power of social media (14). More than one and a quarter million* people follow Shark Week on Facebook and Twitter.

Courtesy Discovery Programs

Bear Grylls

Edward “Bear” Grylls is a UK survival expert who spent time in the special forces. His series Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel has been nominated for multiple awards, including an Emmy. This season, Bear returns to the DC in “Bear Grylls: Escape from Hell.” Each episode, Bear will put himself in dire situations, based on real acts of survival in history. Of the show, he said “I am super excited to be working with Discovery again – the channel where the… journey began,” (15).

Courtesy Discovery Programs

In the News

Interbrand’s “Best Global Brands” Report

Interbrand is the world’s leading brand consultancy. They have awarded the Discovery Channel their #70 spot (of 100). Their reasoning includes a record-breaking 2012 season, strong first-quarter results, and high levels of viewer engagement (17).

“Discovery Launches Fierce New Digital Network”

The Animalist is a compilation of fifteen original digital series exploring the connection between humans and their furry (some not so furry) friends. The show debuted online with nearly seven million monthly streams. In conjunction with additional distribution partners, the content can be accessed from mobile, YouTube, and even the Xbox gaming console (13).

Courtesy Animal.Discovery.com

Discovery Channel Rocks the Vote

For the twentieth year in a row, the Discovery Channel ranked #1 among total adults in its importance to the enjoyment of cable, as well as winning in both perceived value, and favorite basic cable channel. In a new study, the DC ranked #1 as a favorite channel and #1 in importance, among adults who would switch providers were their provider to stop supplying the Discovery Channel (13) (22).

Courtesy Images.BusinessWeek.com

Upcoming

The Challenger Disaster

Discovery Channel makes a foray into the unknown with this series chronicling the story of Dr. Feynman, a physicist who investigated the Challenger Disaster. The show debuted Saturday, November 16th to a large audience. Critics applaud for its fact-based approach, as well as for actor William Hurt who plays Dr. Feynman (16).

Courtesy Discovery Programs

Christmas

Discovery Unwrapped is one week of specialized holiday programming running from Dec. 8-15. The Channel plans to use its own programming to teach viewers the meaning of Christmas from two very different groups. Redneck Moonshiners will offer their opinion on Moonshiner’s Christmas Special, while the more reserved Amish lifestyle will present A Very Amish Christmas. The shows Naked and Afraid, Call of the Wildman, and Gold Rush will also have Christmas specials on Discovery Unwrapped (13).

Halloween

Discovery Channel aims to capitalize on every public event that it can, and this spooky season is no exception. On October 26, Hub Network held its first “Halloween Bash.” Hosted by Kenan Thompson, this two-hour, nationwide costume competition was judged by a panel of celebrity presenters, including Martha Stewart. All-new series Spooksville aired immediately following the “Bash,” (13).

Courtesy OurWeekly.com

Discovery Education

Discovery Education is a division of Discovery Communications aimed at delivering high-quality content that engages students beyond the classroom. Their services include Discovery Education Streaming Plus, where students can have lectures, speeches, information, etc. streamed directly to their computer. In addition to providing streaming services, Discovery Digital Textbook Replacement is working to give students an alternative to high-impact, expensive textbooks. Discovery also contributes to higher education programs (18).

Courtesy Discovery Education

Impact

Discovery has always been interested in a clean, pristine Earth. This is what they showcase in their programming. So it’s only natural that they use their popular programming to inspire change in communities (19).

The Planet Earth series captured rare and endangered species in their natural habitat. The DC partnered with the Nature Conservancy during its production, and aired PSAs during commercial breaks, to help preserve the stunning habitats featured in the program (19).

Shark Week often features PSAs regarding shark conservation and endangerment. Last year, during Shark Week, the DC partnered with organizations Oceana, and the Pew Charitable Trust to help spread those messages (19).

Courtesy Discovery Impact

Further

http://www.youtube.com/user/DiscoveryComms

Works Cited

Viacom

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Amanda Al-Sayah

By Amanda Al-Sayah

Viacom

Courtesy of Dailyfinance.com

[1]

Viacom Inc.
1515 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
(212) 258-6000
www.viacom.com
@Viacom
Facebook.com/Viacom

Key Executives

Courtesy of IMDB

[2]

Sumner M. Redstone: Founder of Viacom and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. He is also the Executive Chairman of CBS.

Courtesy of allthingsd.com

[3]

Philippe Dauman: President and Chief Executive Officer

Courtesy of CNN.com

[4]

Thomas E. Dooley: Chief Operating Officer.

Courtesy of poandpo.com

[5]

Wade Davis: Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development

Company description:

Viacom, which stands for “Video & Audio Communications”, is a mass media company that encompasses cable television and cinema. It is the fourth-largest media conglomerate. National Amusements, Inc., owns Viacom as well as a stake in CBS Corporation. Viacom owns over 205 television stations many of which are well-known including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Spike, Vh1, Comedy Central, etc. It also acquired Paramount Pictures which has been successful in movie releases including Bad Grandpa. [6] Viacom’s competitors include Time Warner, NBCUniversal, and Walt Disney, but still dominates in the cable television market.[7]

[8]

Since Viacom has been a company for a long time, many of its TV stations are familiar to audiences. This means that Viacom has to make a lot of content across different markets. MTV, which stands for Music Television, was bought in 1986 and still attract a younger generation and it is one of the most watched TV stations by the youth because it brings modern trends to the screen that teenagers tend to follow. Nickelodeon is for a younger crowd and BET, Spike, Comedy Central are for an older generation with more mature content. Nickelodeon’s Spongebob Squarepants is the most watched television show of this fall.

MTV’s popular TV show Headbanger’s Ball in the 1980s-early 90s was a big hit that gave rise to a slew of big name artists in rock and heavy metal including bands such as Skid Row, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, etc.

[9]

Nickelodeon has had many successful cartoons kids’ shows during the 90s

[10]

Brief History:

In June of 1971, Viacom became a public company after completing a spin-off from CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System). In 1985, Viacom formed a joint venture with Warner Communications and Warner Amex Cable Communications and acquired 66 percent of MTV Networks. [11] Viacom then merged with Paramount Communications for a deal that was about $10 billion. In 2000, CBS and Viacom merged in a deal for $40 billion and then purchased more assets. Paramount acquired Dreamworks as well and Viacom International Media Networks was created in 2011.

Financials:

Share Price:
Viacom, Inc.
NASDAQ: VIA – Nov 19 3:55 PM ET
79.65+0.01 (0.01%)
[12]

Financials for the last quarter of 2013.

[13]

Viacom has had a very successful fourth quarter of 2013. The quarterly revenues are up by 9% and adjusted net earnings by 18%. The media networks quarterly revenues increased by 7% as advertising revenues are up by 10% and operating income increased 11% to $1.04 Billion. Revenues are up by 11% and adjusted operating income grew 49% [14]. These are big numbers for Viacom and are mainly due to increased viewership and ratings. Viacom has had many must-see moments on television during the year. For instance, the incident during the annual MTV Video Music Awards included the infamous moment where singer Miley Cyrus dances inappropriately with Robin Thicke [15]. As preposterous as it sounds, this must-see moment garnered many viewers and it became a viral video as well. Additionally, many new television shows have been successful.

Catfish the TV show, a show about long-distance online relationships, has been successful on MTV.

[16]

The Daily show has been a popular show on Comedy Central where Jon Stewart satirizes the acts of the government and it garners many viewers.

[17]

Founder Sumner Redstone was very proud of what Viacom had accomplished this semester and said “Viacom’s outstanding performance proved once again the broad global demand for our valuable content. Looking forward, our world-class brands are perfectly positioned to build on this performance and achieve even greater success.” [18]
Redstone is always know for his catchphrase “content is king” meaning that people watch TV not for the TV station but to see great shows that they remember and want to watch more and that’s what makes Viacom successful.

[19]

Recent news:

Sony and Viacom Reach Tentative Deal to Stream Cable Channels

Sony’s PlayStation 4 could be used to deliver Sony’s TV service
Courtesy of New York Times

[20]

Viacom has agreed to let its popular TV channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, etc. to be carried by an internet TV service that Sony is creating which would be the PlayStation 4. This is big news to many gamers or people looking into buying a PlayStation. This could provide large competition for other game consoles that are being released such as the Xbox One and the newer version of the Wii. It could also be big competition for cable and satellite providers and would make them lose customers. It is an innovative idea but it could also be hurtful for the channels because the user can now use Hulu and other such internet TV services instead of watching traditional live television. This agreement would be the first time in which a major programmer and a technology giant try to disrupt the modes of TV delivery and a new era would begin if other programmers do the same. It would be a step closer to cutting the cord. <a href="Viacom has agreed to let its popular TV channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, etc. to be carried by an internet TV service that Sony is creating which would be the PlayStation 4. This is big news to many gamers or people looking into buying a PlayStation. This could provide large competition for other game consoles that are being released such as the Xbox one and the newer version of the Wii. It could also be big competition for cable and satellite providers and would make them lose customers. It is an innovative idea but it could also be hurtful for the channels because the user can now use Hulu and other such internet TV services instead of watching traditional live television. This agreement would be the first time in which a major programmer and a technology giant try to disrupt the modes of TV delivery and a new era would begin if other programmers do the same. It would be a step closer to cutting the cord. [20]

Nick Cannon hosts fifth annual HALO awards
[21]

Enrique Iglesias, Fall Out Boy, Austin Mahone, Dax Shepard, Darren Criss, Kevin Jonas, Nikki Reed, Chloe Bennet and Jennette McCurdy and others joined host Nick Cannon in honoring four extraordinary teens at the fifth annual TeenNick HALO Awards on Sunday November 17th. The four teens included Miranda Fuentes who was paired with Shay Mitchell, Zachary Kerr who was paired with Josh Hutcherson, Rocio Ortega who was paired with Chris Paul, and Denzel Thompson who was paired with Queen Latifah. The teens were awarded $5000 for their achievements among other awards and enjoyed their times with the celebrity pairings. [22]

Comedy Central acquired @midnight with Chris Hardwick and it is doing very well.

[23]

Cablevision sues Viacom for packaging channels
Cablevision released a lawsuit against Viacom in March for basically bundling all its stations and forcing cablevision to buy them all instead of just the well-known ones. Cablevision claims that this is “tying” which is illegal. This is considered an argument that is not very strong because as economists figured out a long time ago, a monopolist can only reap a monopoly profit once. Viacom and other major conglomerates have been doing the same thing for a long time and it is seemingly odd that cablevision is suing them now. It is true that the less popular channels are not garnering views and customers are paying extra for channels they won’t watch but it is the only way that these channels will be able to get the exposure they are getting. [24]

This is a video from Wall Street Journal about Viacom being sued by Cablevision

[25]

References:
[1] Viacom Logo
[2] Sumner Redstone photo
[3] Philippe Dauman photo
[4] Thomas E. Dooley photo
[5] Wade Davis photo
[6] Viacom.com overview
[7] Viacom competitors
[8] Viacom assets logos photo
[9] Headbangers Ball photo
[10] Nickelodeon photo
[11] Viacom’s Historical timeline
[12] Share Price for Viacom from Yahoo
[13] Viacom.com financial report for 4th quarter
[14] Viacom.com financial report for 4th quarter
[15] VMAs moment Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke
[16] Catfish TV show photo
[17] The Daily Show photo
[18] Sumner Redstone quote
[19] Summner Redstone video
[20] PlayStation 4 photo
[21] Sony and Viacom Deal Article
[22] Nick Cannon HALO Awards photo
[23] Chris Hardwick photo
[24] Cablevision sues Viacom article
[25] Wall Street Journal video

YouTube

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Daniela Rodriguez

By Daniela Rodriguez

Courtesy of YouTube [1]

901 Cherry Ave.
San Bruno, CA 94066 USA

Phone: +1 650-253-0000

Fax: +1 650-253-0001 [2]

EXECUTIVE

Salar Kamangar–Courtesy of Google+ [3]

CEO of YouTube
Senior Vice President of Video at Google [4]

ABOUT YOUTUBE

YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005 by three PayPal employees. It was not until late 2006 that Google Inc. acquired YouTube as a subsidiary for $1.65 billion. [5] The company today has changed its focus to become more like a Television/Web channel and it has implemented some of Google’s strategies, which will be explained later in the profile.

YouTube in essence is a video-sharing website that allows billions of people around the world to watch, find and share originally-created videos. The website allows people to connect through forums and inspires others to share their voice. [6] In order to make video sharing possible, the website uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 Technology to display its wide variety of videos. These videos include, movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as, amateur content such as video blogging, short original videos and educational videos. YouTube and other networks, such as, CBS, BBC, Vevo and Hulu, have a partnership where these networks offer some of their content via YouTube. [7] This partner program has allowed thousands of channels to increase their profits by making at least six figures a year solely through their YouTube channel. [8]

YouTube is localized in 56 countries and across 61 languages, accounting for 70% of the website’s traffic. The company mainly targets young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 [8], and 65% of its viewers are males [9]. Statistics also depict that more than one billion users visit YouTube each month, over six billion hours of video are watched each month, and 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. [8]

YouTube’s omnipresence in every platform has caught advertisers’ attention. Thousands of advertisers are using TrueView in-stream ads and more than a million advertisers are currently using Google ad enterprises; mostly small businesses. [8] YouTube becomes a shared experience where voices are heard, communities are created and creators are born. One of the many talents that was discovered on YouTube was Justin Bieber, who now, is famous around the world. Their slogan “Learn. Share. Create” accurately defines and depicts users’s expectations through the accessibility and user-friendliness it provides them. [10]

Courtesy of YouTube [10]

FINANCIALS

The owner of YouTube, Google Inc., reported a steady rise in their financials from previous years. As of November 2013, Google Inc. stock is priced at $1,029.20. When Google first went public in August 2004, the company IPO was set at $85 per share. The company reported a gross income of $29.45 billion last year and a net income of $10.79 billion. It could be assumed therefore, that acquisition of companies, such as YouTube, have had a gigantic influence in Google’s current financials. [11] [12]

GOOGLE+ INTEGRATION WITH YOUTUBE

The addition of YouTube to Google’s family in 2006 was believed to be an extraordinary idea at the time. This year, however, many commenters are angry with the idea of YouTube being a subsidiary of Google Inc. because Google is changing and forcing YouTube to change its business model. This is because Google is attempting to use YouTube as a medium to advertise its products. [13]

Courtesy of Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images [15]

Google Inc. is known for its technological innovations. One of these creations was Google+ — Google’s social media. Since its creation, Google+ has been unsuccessful in competing with social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram. This is the reason why Google is trying to make Google+ become YouTube’s problem. Last week YouTube forced its users to create a Google+ account in order to allow them to comment on a video, which links a Youtube account to an actual identity. [14] More than 30,000 people complained on YouTube’s blog post about the new change. There are also a variety of Change.org petitions asking YouTube to revert to its old practices. The most popular petition has more than 50,000 supporters. [15]

According to many, what Google is forcing YouTube to do is violating YouTube users’ privacy. However, according to Google, this new implementation was to cease the anonymous venom that many were leaving on YouTube’s website. [13] Also, with the new system, content creators will be able to have more control when it comes to monitoring the comments on their videos. This technique will allow negative comments to sink to the bottom and as a result, positive opinions will be most visible. [15]

This is not the first controversy that YouTube has been involved with. According to Change.org, YouTube is the fourth most petitioned company after Facebook, Walmart and Apple. [15]

APP INOVATION- YOUTUBE CAPTURE

YouTube is currently trying to capture the iOS system, which will allow users to film, edit and rearrange multiple recordings into a single video. [16] This new offering will permit YouTube users to create videos similar to Instagram and Vine. YouTube will allow people to record as many clips as they want, with no time restriction to upload — differentiating itself from what its competitors are offering. [17]

Courtesy of YouTube Capture [18]

The app offers the simplest way to record videos. One needs to just tap and hold the red button displayed on the screen to record a video. When the video is finished, a bubble in the right-hand corner will bounce depicting that your video has been saved. Once the bubble is tapped, editing tools will be displayed on the screen with the selected video. To add other videos, one must tap the plus symbol on the bottom right-hand corner and select the clip they want to add. [16]

To go back and watch the video frame-by-frame the user must tap each thumbnail clip. This will allow the user to trim each shot by dragging the sliders on either side of the screen. When finished, the user can also add music from their own library or choose from YouTube’s expanded library. These unique aspects of YouTube’s video innovation will allow users to have a better video-recording experience. [16]

Once the video is done being edited, the user can upload the project to the YouTube channel and share it with friends on social media sites such as, Google +, Facebook and Twitter. [17]

NIELSEN, COMSCORE AND GOOGLE

According to telecom equipment company Sandvine, Netflix and YouTube account for 50 percent of all data transferred on fixed broadband networks in the U.S. On November 12th of this year, Google announced that Nielsen will be in charge of measuring YouTube’s ratings in 2014. [19]

Even though Google has its own system to measure what consumers watch and buy, the company decided to partner up with Nielsen and analytics company comScore to receive an objective third-party opinion. Google’s partnership with these two companies could give Google a revenue boost by allowing Google to diversify its products. As a result, this would attract more people and a more diverse set of marketers. [19]

Courtesy of REELSEO [20]

WORKS CITED-

[1] YouTube’s Logo Picture
[2] YouTube- Contact Us
[3] Salar Kamangar’s Headshot
[4] CEO of YouTube- Salar Kamangar
[5] YouTube- Information
[6] YouTube- About
[7] Social Media and Sites
[8] YouTube- Statistics
[9] YouTube- Demographic Report
[10] The YouTube Community
[11] Google Inc. Income Statement
[12] CNN Money- Google Goes Low
[13] Google’s recent YouTube fiasco isn’t just about privacy
[14] Google’s Relentless Campaign to Make Google+ Work Becomes YouTube’s Problem
[15] YouTube faces backlash for Google+ integration
[16] YouTube Capture for iOS now lets you record, edit and rearrange multiple clips into a single video
[17] YouTube- Capture
[18] YouTube Capture Picture
[19] Nilsen Will Measure Google’s YouTube in 2014
[20] Partnership of Google, Nielsen and conScore Picture

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