Category Archives: TRF235.3 Fall 2012

Tribune Broadcasting

Posted on by 
by Samantha Sloan

 

Tribune Broadcasting Logo ©Tribune Broadcasting

Tribune Broadcasting
435 N. Michigan Ave Suite 1800
Chicago, IL 60611

Phone: 312-222-3333
Fax: 312-321-0446

Website: http://www.Tribune.com

Tribune Broadcasting is a pioneer in both radio and television broadcasting, and is a faction of the major media conglomerate, Tribune Company. Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 26 major market television stations, which cumulatively reach more than 80% of United States Households. The group is anchored by super-station WGN America, which can be seen in more that 66 million households via satellite and cable services nationwide. 19 Tribune stations are affiliated with the growing Warner Brothers Television Network, and Tribune holds a 22% equity investment in this network. [6] [11]

 

 

Paul Wesley and Torrey Devitto pose at a Tribune Event. ©Tribune Broadcasting

Tribune Broadcasting is one of America’s largest and most respected broadcasters, and has a long history of innovation and development. Starting in 1924 with WGN Radio, Tribune Broadcasting has set a national precedent for American broadcasting. Tribune is responsible for radio’s first live broadcast, television’s first live sporting event, and the invention of instant replay and live aerial news coverage. Also, Tribune Broadcasting has recently switched from analog technology to the latest digital technology to help viewers gain access to the highest quality television possible. [10]

 

Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates many television stations across the country; however, Tribune also develops and distributes many first run syndicated television programs for the Tribune Station group. It also produces content for national syndication, including the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team and Chicago’s WGN-AM.

 

 

Iron Chef is one of the most popular shows on the Food Network, and is owned by Tribune Broadcasting. ©Food Network

 

The majority of Tribune Stations are affiliated with the media conglomerates, FOX,and the CW Network, however, they also have ties to ABC,and MyNetworkTV due to license agreements in some cities. Tribune holds equity interest in many networks and websites, including the Food Network, Careerbuilder.com, Classified Ventures, ForSaleByOwner.com, Homefinder.com, and Topix, to name a few. [16] [5]

 

The top executives for Tribune Broadcasting are CEO, Nils Larsen, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Administration, Gina Mazzaferri, Chief Executive Officer of the Tribune Company, Eddy W. Hartenstein, President of Programming Division, Sean Compton, and President for WPIX- TV, Betty Ellen Berlamino.  Real Estate billionaire, Sam Zell is also influential, and took ownership of the debt-heavy Tribune Company in the midst of bankruptcy. Zell took the company private, and is now working with Larsen to reestablish Tribune Broadcasting as an industry leader. [12]

 

 

Tribune Media Conglomerate Battles Debt ©Tribune Broadcasting

On December 8, 2008, the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, which was followed by a voluntary petition for reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which is in joint administration with the entire Tribune Media Conglomerate. Upon declaring bankruptcy, the company’s senior debt holders, Oaktree Capital Management, JP Morgan Chase, Anglo, Gordon and Company assumed control of Tribune’s properties. Since then, the company has been transferring ownership of the Tribune Broadcasting Television and Radio Station licenses to the investment groups that now operate the company. For this reason, the company is no longer making any earnings public, and has not released any earnings information since 2008. The company is still operating its media business during while restructuring, which includes production of all content that was produced before the company filed for bankruptcy. [14] [15]

 

Tribune Broadcasting CEO, Nils Larsen ©Tribune Broadcasting

 

Nils Larsen became CEO April 2011, after the previous CEO, Jerry Kersting resigned due to his inability to effectively lead the company out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Larsen has been an incredibly effective CEO, and has worked extensively to re-establish the company as a national broadcast leader. According to Tribune owner, Sam Zell, “Nils is the right person to lead out broadcast operations…he’s thoughtful, creative, and has the vision necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the group.”[1]

 

In the past year and a half, Nils has shifted the company from one stuck in old ways to one that is innovative, creative, and focused extensively on demonstrating company worth to advertisers. In a recent press conference, Eddy Hartenstein, head of Tribune Co’s Print section and editor of the LA Times stated that, “under Larsen’s leadership, cash flows have been up significantly than they were a year earlier”. Tribune Broadcasting keeps its financial information private, however this statement was incredibly promising, and a good sign for investors as the company plans to leave Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the next few months.
Nils Larsen has also taken the lead in the reinvention of Tribune Broadcasting and its role in local television. As stated by Lee Abrams, Tribune’s Chief Innovation Officer, “we have to be radically and noticeably different-we have to imagine TV and TV news in a totally new way, one that breaks through and reinvents decades of the old, tired, TV playbook”. These changes involve everything from station identifications, logos, graphics, promos, and to anything else that would distinguish a Tribune station from any other station in the market. [14]

 

Tribune Company’s New Website. The new design, frequently changing pictures, and opportunities for viewer responses is helping viewers become more connected with content. ©Tribune Broadcasting

On June 29th, 2012, Nils hired new creative directors John Zeigler and Carrie King, to implement dramatically new creative standards and promotional emphasis for the websites and television stations within their respective regions. In order to appeal to a younger demographic, the creative duo threw out Tribune’s previous website design, and replaced it with a website that is more appealing to these younger viewers.[2]

 

 

 

Tribune has also distinguished itself from other broadcasters on August 8th, 2012 upon the release of the Augmented Reality Application. This application was designed to help Tribune bridge the gap between what Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams referred to as the, “1970’s Television Playbook” to content that spawns a symbiotic relationship between the broadcaster and the viewer. Chicago’s WGN-TV was the first to launch this application, which they named WGNTV-AR. The company used Aurasma technology, which allows printed material to virtually come to life in either the 3D or video form. The company launched this application using the Chicago Tribune and Red Eye online newspapers. Simply, this mobile application allows readers to scan over content that interests them, and then they are linked to the video content on WGN-TV. The application was released widely, and is available on both Google Play and iTunes.  The Tribune Company is confident that this new technology will be beneficial to both their newspapers and television stations, and will help viewers become more involved in the content. [3] [9]

 

Video: The Impact of Technology Dependency on Media Delivery

 

Tribune Broadcasting has had many carriage controversies in 2012 beginning on April 1st, when Tribune’s carriage agreement with DirecTV ended. On April 1st, all 23 broadcast stations owned by Tribune Broadcasting were pulled from the satellite provider at midnight. Tribune had been seeking retransmission consent payments from DirecTV, which the company had received for the carriage of WGN America under its previous carriage agreements. On April 3rd, DirecTV filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission claiming that Tribune representatives had acted in bad faith. This complaint spawned from the claim that the company had transferred control over its broadcast licenses to bankruptcy creditors in an inappropriate fashion. The dispute continued until April 5th, 2012, when Tribune Broadcasting and DirecTV reached an agreement for the Tribune Broadcasting Stations and WGN America. At 9:00pm that day, the complaint to the Federal Communications Commission was dropped and the Tribune stations were restored to DirecTV subscribers. [4]

 

Similarly, on April 16th, 2012, Tribune Broadcasting’s carriage agreement with Cablevision was terminated which prompted the removal of WPIX, WCCT and WPHL being pulled from Cablevision systems in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Similarly, KWGN was pulled from Optimum West Systems in Colorado and Wyoming. On August 16th, 2012, Tribune Broadcasting clarified this removal of stations and subsequent confusion by stating that, “Cablevision has never compensated Tribune for the retransmission of its local stations, which are among the most highly watched channels on Cablevision’s line-ups.  What we have proposed amounts to less than a penny a day per subscriber, well below what Cablevision pays to providers of less well-watched channels.” [8]

 

Cablevision blocked out WPIX in dispute with Tribune Broadcasting ©LIBN

 

On November 16th, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it has approved Tribune Broadcasting’s request for the assignment of broadcast licenses and waivers in cross-ownership markets. Simply, the FCC granted the Tribune Company cross-ownership in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, South Florida and Hartford. Tribune owns 23 television stations and 8 newspapers in these markets. The company is extremely excited about the decision, since it will allow the company to continue moving out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the next several weeks. [13] [14]
On November 19th, SVP of programming and entertainment, Sean Compton, moved up to president of programming at Tribune, overseeing WGN/ Chicago as well as Tribune’s 23 National TV Stations and the national WGN America cable station. Larsen was quoted in Radio Ink, stating that, “(Sean Compton) has been turning around the attitude at our station group and at WGN America by securing outstanding syndicated programming- and better programming means better ratings. He’s making a huge difference in our recent success”

 

 

Sources:

[1]Sam Zell names Niels Larsen CEO http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-06-01/business/ct-biz-0601-phil-20110601_1_randy-michaels-ceo-and-publisher-executive-shuffle

[2]Tribune Broadcasting Reinvents Creative Services http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tribune-broadcasting-reinvents-creative-services-97411229.html

[3]Printed Reality Comes to Life as WGN-TV Launches Augmented Reality App http://www.wgntv.com/about/station/pressrelease/wgntv-printed-comes-to-life-as-augmented-reality-app-20120808,0,5805252.story

[4]Tribune Broadcasting Says No To DirectTV Deal http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/story/2012-04-01/tribune-directv-deal/53919334/1

[5]Tribune Broadcasting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune_Broadcasting

[6]Tribune Company Website http://www.tribune.com/

[7] Newspaper Paywalls http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/newspaper-paywalls-too-little-too-late-fallen-giant-industry-35885

[8] Tribune Company Statement on Negotiations with CableVision http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=4462

[9] Printed Material Comes to Life with New Augmented Reality App http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=4452

[10] Analog. Digital. What’s the Difference? http://telecom.hellodirect.com/docs/Tutorials/AnalogVsDigital.1.051501.asp

[11]Company Overview of Tribune Broadcasting Co. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1579369

[12] About Tribune Administration/ Executives http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?page_id=2

[13] Tribune Co. Bankruptcy http://www.deadline.com/tag/tribune-co-bankruptcy/

[14] Tribune Win’s FCC Approval http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=4835

[15] Restructuring Information Website http://dm.epiq11.com/TRB/Project

[16] Tribune Company History http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?page_id=2313

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Posted on by 
by Steven Geer

Logo courtesy of www.sbg.net

Headquarters – 10706 Beaver Dam Road, Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030

Telephone – (410)-568-1500

Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter (@sbgi)

Brief History

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/photo/262/262314-Credit_Nicholas_Griner_Baltimore_Business_Journal.jpg

David B. Smith, President & CEO – Photo courtesy of Nicholas Griner, Baltimore Business Journal

Sinclair Broadcasting Group is a telecommunications company located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA. Founded as Chesapeake Television Corporation in 1971 by Julian Sinclair Smith, its station ownership started in Balitmore (WBFF), Pittsburgh (WPTT/WPMY) and Columbus (WTTE). In 1985, the remaining stocks of the business were bought out by Smith’s four sons and its name was changed to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Since 1988, David B. Smith has served as President & CEO while the remaining brothers hold executive positions as well. Their leadership brought the company to a new level, expanding both its audience reach and content variety. In 1995, the company became publicly traded on NASDAQ with the symbol SBGI [1][2].

Sinclair Broadcasting was a pioneer of local marketing agreements in the early 1990’s. Though many stations are owned and operated by Sinclair, others are affiliated through LMA’s. Sinclair’s stations are affiliated with major networks like Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC. Also, this company was one of the first to experiment with “prepackaged” news programs, produced by the news organization, News Central [3].

Sinclair has a diverse array of holdings outside telecommunications as well. Ring of Honor Wrestling is just one of their many subsidiaries. They air the content they produce in certain markets and upload some episodes to YouTube.

Here is Ring Of Honor Episode 54 from October 11, 2012:

Recent Acquisitions and News

A buying spree in 2011 and early 2012 added the assets of Four Points Media Group, the Freedom Communications stations group, and six stations from Newport Television [4][5][6]. Sinclair Broadcast Group now operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States.

Their most recent acquisitions closed December 1, 2012  and include stations in new and previously established markets. In addition to increasing the audience reach of Sinclair 3%, these purchases also increased the number of affiliated stations in Sinclair’s portfolio. Some of the stations now owned by Sinclair are WTTA (MNT) Tampa, KBTV (FOX) Beaumont, WKRC (CBS) Cincinnati, WOAI (NBC) San Antonio, WHP (CBS) Harrisburg, WPMI (NBC) and WJTC (IND) Mobile, KSAS (FOX) Wichita, and WHAM (ABC) Rochester.

See all of Sinclair’s holdings and their information here.

Sinclair’s Markets – Map courtesy of Sinclair Broadcast Group

The failure of New Central and Sinclair’s profile as a “profit first, journalism second” broadcaster prompted the company to shift its focus to quality news in local markets. Sinclair’s recent acquisitions included many local news stations, atypical purchases for the company, but smart because of their powerful local presence. Sinclair has even joined the National Association of Broadcasters, a sign that they’re willingness to participate in Washington alongside competitors [7].

Hurricane Sandy had a large impact on many viewers in Sinclair’s markets, creating an opportunity for the company to serve its local constituents. During the storm, Sinclair provided non-stop coverage by “simulcasting” the news programs online. This allowed those without power to access it using mobiles phones and tablets. Online streaming and other technology platforms are being considered at Sinclair Group. Chief tech executive Del Parks spoke for the company claiming that the multiscreen experience is, “a very personal thing for our news operations.” Simulcasting was also used this fall in local office campaigns within certain Sinclair markets by streaming town hall debates on their website [8].

On November 13, 2012 it was announced that Sinclair Broadcasting would be partnering with Datasphere, a technology company aimed at small business solutions in major media and reaching the hyperlocal market. Sinclair’s television station websites will be retrofitted with Datasphere’s event calendars for local event lists in each market. An example of this calendar can be seen on WBFF Baltimore’s event website. This will be used alongside a whole new technology platform at Sinclair Group. It is a full-sized service that connects local small businesses to media companies for advertising needs. Datasphere’s services will be introduced into 21 markets including Austin, Baltimore, Columbus, Dayton, Nashville and San Antonio [9].

Sinclair attends many industry conferences. Their next conference is the JP Morgan Global HYLFC in Miami Beach, February 25-27, 2013.

Financial Overview

Sinclair’s income statement for December 2, 2012 shows the stock price settling at $11.03; this is still low compared to their period of $14.00+ shares back in 2003-2004. This company has battled through the economic recession, however, showing staggering growth in returns over a three year period. In fact, they’ve quadrupled the 3 year return percentage of their competitor Belo Corporation from 2009 to 2012 [10].

SBGI Total Returns Comparison

Chart courtesy of www.ycharts.com

Three year returns are a significant figure for a long-term shareholder of this company. High returns indicate a growing business. Sinclair has rebounded from the recession and continues to show steady growth.

High third quarter revenues this year were reported following Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath. The 44% increase from $181 million to $260 million was attributed to political advertising associated with the campaign season and a spike in automotive advertising on Sinclair’s stations. After reaching retransmission agreements with networks like Comcast and Dish, Sinclair found that higher retransmissions revenues also contributed to the figure [11][12].

Hear or watch the rebroadcast of the 3rd quarter 2012 earnings results here.

Sinclair’s financial calendar is as follows:

  • February 6, 2013 – Fourth Quarter 2012 Earnings Report
  • May 1, 2013 – First Quarter 2013 Earnings Report
  • June 16, 2013 – Annual Shareholders Meeting
  • August 7, 2013 – Second Quarter 2013 Earnings Report
  • November 6, 2013 – Third Quarter 2013 Earnings Report

Controversies

Sinclair Broadcasting, though successful and respected in the industry, is not immune to scrutiny by its competition and the public eye. The company is known for blatantly taking sides on social and political issues including political campaigns. A conservative bias can be noticed in the programming Sinclair chooses to air around election time. Even so, they deny any partisanship and claim to only be informing and engaging the public.

Photo courtesy of cbs12.com

The 2012 Presidential Campaign was another opportunity for Sinclair to garner the profits of political advertising at the cost of their audience’s scheduled news programming. The decision to preempt regular programs in order to air the “ABC 6 Election Special – VOTE 2012” didn’t sit well with supporters of Obama [13]. The special was aired in markets all located in battleground states.

A writer for The Baltimore Sun wrote in an article that, “the only thing that was lower than the attack-ad-dominated style of campaigning by both sides was the performance of an increasingly superficial and partisan press,” [14][15]. Sinclair has since rejected the criticism, claiming that the specials were focused on the issues and not so much the candidates, and that the markets where they were aired had more “news value.” [16]

Watch a recap of the election special here.

In a dispute with Dish Network this past August, Sinclair was ready to black out 74 of its stations carried by Dish when they wouldn’t accept a new retransmission agreement. A public exchange of words between the two companies resulted in high tensions and little motivation for Sinclair to bargain with the distributor. Dish claimed that Sinclair was charging more than any other broadcaster, resulting in higher subscription fees for customers. Sinclair, however, views retransmission fees as an important resource for the company. A multi-year consent agreement was finally reached after several weeks. Sinclair has become increasingly aggressive towards television providers and retransmission fees. Similar disputes between Mediacom, Time Warner, and Comcast all ended with agreements favoring Sinclair [17].

 

Sources

[1]: http://www.sbgi.net/about/history.shtml

[2]: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sbgi

[3]: http://www.sbgi.net/about/profile.shtml

[4]: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/473517-Sinclair_Grabs_Four_Points_Stations_for_200_Mil.php

[5]: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/sinclairbroadcast-acquisition-idUSL4E8IJ3M120120719

[6]: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/us-sinclairbroadcast-acquisition-idUSBRE86I0OY20120719

[7]: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/481963-Local_TV_s_Death_Star_Gets_in_Sync.php

[8]: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/63574/second-screens-now-a-necessity-at-sinclair

[9]: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/13/4981878/datasphere-teams-up-with-sinclair.html

[10]: http://ycharts.com/companies/SBGI/performance

[11]: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmOfM9u5nekq4hbPyXAmLOj9OErg?docId=365c480866ce41d9b245673a0f614900

[12]: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/490194-Sinclair_Revenue_Up_49_.php

[13]: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/sinclair-under-fire-for-airing-partisan-special-on-stations-in-battleground-states-on-election-eve_b68439

[14]: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-11-07/entertainment/bal-election-night-tv-twitter-youtube-20121106_1_sinclair-stations-baltimore-s-wbff-sinclair-broadcast-group

[15]: http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=21681

[16]: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/63412/sinclair-rejects-criticism-of-election-specials

[17]: http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/dish-network-sinclair-retransmission-agreement/

 

Links

http://www.linkedin.com/company/13038?trk=tyah

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sinclair-Broadcast-Group/112322242116588?ref=ts&fref=ts

https://twitter.com/sbgi

http://http//www.sbgi.net/corp_governance/directors.shtml#David_Smith

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sbgi

http://www.sbgi.net/business/markets/all.shtml

http://www.rohwrestling.com/

http://www.nab.org/

http://datasphere.com/

http://events.foxbaltimore.com/

http://www.sbgi.net/investors/calendar.shtml

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=sbgi+Income+Statement&annual

http://www.belo.com/

http://www.sbgi.net/investors/webcasts.shtml

http://www.sbgi.net/investors/calendar.shtml

http://www.cbs12.com/news/features/vote/local/#

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

Raycom Media

Posted on by 
by Raja Ram

Raycom Media

Company Description:

Raycom Media Inc. engages in television and radio broadcasting through its subsidiaries. It participates in the sports marketing, video production and telecommunications. The firm also participates in video broadcasting with a focus on corporate, commercial, and manufacturing clients. In addition, they work with state and local governments nation-wide to provide systematic support in telecommunications and broadcasting. For example, one subsidiary, KCBD, broadcasts political advertisements. Below is a video that demonstrates their involvement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhBTc1EMfNg  [3]

Raycom Media Inc currently owns and provides services for 52 stations [1]. It covers 12.6% of US households and employs over 3,500 individuals [1]. The firm is currently employee-owned and is not publically traded [1]. In addition, Raycom’s chief subsidiaries include Raycom Sports, a sports marketing firm in Charlotte, North Carolina and Broadview Media which is a post-production company in Montgomery, Alabama. They also own the rights to regional cable and syndication television to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Athletics [1].

The firm bolsters offices in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, but is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. The company’s contact information and key executives are listed below [9].

Key Executives for Raycom Media, Inc [9]:

Mr. Paul H. McTear
Chief Executive Officer and President

Ms. Melissa Thurber
Chief Financial Officer and Vice President

Mr. Wayne Daugherty
Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President

Mr. David Folsom
Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Technology

Ms. Rebecca Bryan
Vice President and General Counsel

Contact Information:
201 Monroe Street
RSA Tower
20th Floor
Montgomery, AL 36104
United States
Phone: 334-206-1400
Fax:334-206-1555
http://www.raycommedia.com/

Company History:

Raycom Sports was founded in 1979 [7] by Rick Ray who left his former station in order to a tap into the college basketball market.

He partnered up with Dee Birke and started buying the rights to games, and producing, syndicating, and selling commercials to cover expenses. Eventually, Ray acquired the rights to ACC sports teams by 1981 [7] after forming a joint venture with another broadcasting firm Jefferson-Pilot Sports. All syndicated programming was distributed over landlines through AT&T networks. The company flourished under a unique business model in which they purchased all advertising space from local stations, and then sold the allocated time to advertisers at a higher premium. They also incorporated a central monitoring system that allowed for easy billing the following day to advertisers.

The firm continued its successful growth based off the model that local stations broadcasting local sports could be more successful than broadcasting out of region sports programming in multiple sites. In addition, they broadcasted sports programming from ESPN, and in “blacked out” regions. Raycom also partnered with ABC and purchased airtime from the network in order to show sports programming. The deal was so successful, that up until 1995 [7], the two remained partners.

The network continued to expand its horizons and began broadcasting bowl games, and ACC championship games. In addition, they got the rights to broadcast the Charlotte Bobcats NBA games [7]. They also began airing television programming such as “More than a Game”, which featured positive stories from the sports world. They also syndicated a number of specials on the life of Elvis Presley including “Elvis Graceland” (1987) [7].

In 1992, Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications which at the time consisted of 13 television stations [7]. Ellis was a good friend of Ray’s and acquired Raycom Sports in 1994 [7]. He consequently sold the firm to an Atlanta based pension fund, Retirement Systems of Alabama, later that year. Through the merger of three big media hubs, Raycom Media Inc was founded in 1996 [1]. Initially the merger consisted of the purchase of 15 television stations, and other networks. This included the sports marketing firm that Raycom Sports, a distribution company and two radio stations.

Current Activity

Raycom Media Inc. is currently employee-owned, and has performed moderately well in comparison to competitors. Some of the firm’s current competitors include Media General Inc., Hearst Television Inc., and Nextar Broadcasting Group Inc [4]. Although these competitors provide similar broadcasting, marketing, and television services, Raycom excels with its sports marketing division. In addition, in recent years they have made strides to advance their uniqueness by branching out onto mobile devices and tablets [5].

Since Raycom media is a privately owned firm, their financials are not made available to the public. They are however, subject to auditing by the SEC and its subsidiaries [10]. Some financial data is available. Their annual revenue is $183.6 million [8]. The firm has not reported any significant loss or inability to meet expectations in the past year.

The firm has a number of subsidiaries. These include but are not limited to the following: KAIT, KCBD,KFVS, KGMB, KHNL/KOGG/KHBC, KLTV, KOLD, KPLC, KSLA,KTRE, WAFB, WAFF, WALB, WAVE, WBRC, WBTV, WBXH, WCSC, WDAM, WDFX, WECT, WFIE, WFLX, WFXG, WIS, WLBT, WLOX, and WMBF [2].

Raycom Media has four major programs. The first is “America Now” [14] which is a lifestyle magazine with several local appeals. The second is the “ACC Network” [15]. This network broadcasts both basketball and football games of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They also broadcast a number of individual programming such as player, coaches, and team interviews. In addition, they provide feedback and analysis on games including the ACC championship games. Third is “Bounce TV” [13] which airs programming and sports directed at African Americans 20+ and provide regional original programming as well. Finally, there is “Right this Minute” which airs originally programming that connects the internet and social media to broaden the appeal of television [2].

       

The firm also provides a number of career opportunities in marketing, sales, programming, and broadcast to prospective employees. To see the different opportunities within Raycom Media, please watch the following clip [3]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3lxtbJrF4I

Recent News

April 13, 2011: Raycom Media Inc., Cox Media Group, and The E.W Scripps Company partners up with MagicDust to create “Right this Minute”. This original programming will incorporate the internet, social media, and new storytelling methods to broaden the appeal of modern television. In addition, the programming is expected to reach 30% of American households and will be available for nationwide syndication. It will comprise of an hour-long special every weekday [9].

May 5, 2012: Raycom Media Inc announces the first ever exclusive African American programming station, Bounce TV. It is intended to reach 26 Raycom markets [2].

May 12, 2011: Raycom overhauls its broadcasting graphics system and replaces it with Chyron BlueNet graphics workflow. All 31 of its stations will now have the HD upgrade and will be outfitted with two dual-channel LEX3 on air graphics systems, a CAMIO server, and iSO monitoring application. This will allow Raycom’s networks to broadcast programming in HD and have fully automated playout as well as real-time playout. Raycom will incorporate BlueNet into its current cloud-based services [9].

May 23, 2011: MSA Security forms partnership with Raycom Media Inc.  This allows Raycom’s Media’s local news affiliates to use MSA Security’s analysis in its local news broadcasting. This includes analytics on some of the top counterterrorism operations within the past year [2].

July 12, 2011: Raycom media is recognized by PromaxBDA which represents broadcasting, cable, and advertising agencies as well as new media programming. This is one of the first steps for Raycom Media to become a national contender in broadcasting [2].

July 25, 2011: Raycom Media Inc, and Meredith Local Media sign an online pact that allows Meredith Local Media to access Raycom News Network and its digital content hub in Montgomery, Alabama [2].

September 29, 2011: Raycom Media Inc. debuts “America Now” which provides local news and broadcasting for regional areas. Upon initial airing of the program, it bolstered a strong viewership, and attracted many new viewers in “blacked out” regions [2].

January 18, 2012: Raycom Media Inc acquires New York based firm Tupeo-Honey Productions (THP) and 50% of the parent company My Tueplo Entertainment. This adds to the company’s production capacity. Most of Tupelo-Honey Production’s managing staff will remain in their current positions [2].

August 1, 2012:Raycom Media Inc. partners up with the College Football All-Star Classic to bring together the top contenders in college football in a week-long event played in Montgomery, Alabama [2].

August 13, 2012: Raycom Media Inc. launches its tablet applications for all 32 news stations. This is intended to connect consumers with local news and weather remotely. It is available for both android and iPad tablets. In addition, it includes live radar and storm tracking, breaking news push alerts, local sports including high school and college, and viewer submitted content. The application is compatible with iOS, Android, RIM, and mobile web [9].

References

1. Raycom Media Inc.–http://www.raycommedia.com/about/

2. Raycom Media News–http://www.raycommedia.com/news/

3. Youtube.com–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3lxtbJrF4I, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhBTc1EMfNg

4. InsideView–http://www.insideview.com/directory/raycom-media-inc

5. New York Times: BusinessWeek–http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/business/the-media-business-advertising-addenda-people-111716.html

6. Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail– http://www.rtjgolf.com/partners/

7. Raycom Sports History–http://www.raycomsports.com/about-us/company-history/expanded-company-history/

8. Hoovers D&B Company–http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/competition.Raycom_Media_Inc.8cc7c242ffb31d6f.html

9. Bloomberg BusinessWeek–http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=681777

10. Bloomberg–http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/24601Z:US/

11.Victory Management Group– http://vmg1.info/vmg-names-rick-ray-chairman-2/

12. IMD– http://www.imdb.com/

13. Bounce TV– http://www.bouncetv.com/

14. America Now — http://www.americanownews.com/

15. ACC Network– http://www.americanownews.com/

16. Right this Minute — http://www.rightthisminute.com/

Meredith

Posted on by 
by Joseph Palagonia

Address: 1716 Locust Street,

Des Moines, IA 50309-3023

Phone: 515-284-3000

Official Website: www.meredith.com

Overview

Meredith Corporation, a media and marketing company, engages in magazine publishing and related brand licensing, television broadcasting, digital and customer relationship marketing, digital and mobile media, and video creation operations in the United States. It operates in two segments, National Media and Local Media. The National Media segment publishes magazines for women focusing on the home and family market. [1]

Mission Statement

“We are Meredith Corporation, a publicly held media and marketing company founded upon service to our customers and committed to building value for our shareholders. Our cornerstone is knowledge of the home and family market. From that, we have built businesses that serve well-defined readers and viewers, deliver the messages of advertisers, and extend our brand franchises and expertise to related markets. Our products and services distinguish themselves on the basis of quality, customer service, and value that can be trusted.” [2]

Meredith Corporation’s main principles include focusing on long term success, returning superior funds to their stockholders, and dedicating their lives to their employees and customers.

Strategies

As we build our businesses for the future, the company is focused on three key strategies:

  • We will further develop our fundamental commitment to publishing – the essential element of our home-and-family focus.
  • We will further develop our fundamental commitment to broadcasting – an essential element of our growth strategy.
  • We will produce additional revenues and profit by integrating and leveraging the assets of our core businesses across multiple platforms. [2]

History

Edwin Thomas Meredith [2] founded the Meredith Corporation in 1902, when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine. After the publication’s success, the company in 1912 moved to it’s current headquarters located in Des Moines. Since then, many additions have been added to the building including a $40 campus addition completed in 1998.

Key Personnel

Stephen M. Lacy                                                                                  Joseph H. Ceryanec

Chairman, President and CEO                 Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

————————————–

John S. Zieser

Chief Development Officer, General Counsel

Tom Harty

President, Meredith National Media Group

Paul Karpowicz

President, Meredith Local Media Group

Steven M. Cappaert

Corporate Controller

Local Coverage

Meredith Corporation provides entertainment for audiences on a local level. Led by President Paul Karpowicz, it’s television station group affiliates include CBS, FOX, and NBC. With its 12 local broadcast stations across the country, over 10 million U.S. households world wide receive forms of media from Meredith.

Meredith Stations

CBS Atlanta 46 CBS Atlanta (WGCL 46)
Atlanta, GA
Local News | Weather		 CBS 5 KPHO
Phoenix, AZ
Local News | Weather
FOX 12 Oregon KPTV FOX 12 Oregon (KPTV)
Portland, OR
Local News | Weather		 PDX TV PDX TV (KPDX)
Portland, Oregon
WFSB Channel 3 WFSB Channel 3
Hartford/New Haven, CT
Local News | Weather		 WSMV Channel 4 WSMV Channel 4
Nashville, TN
Local News | Weather
KCTV Channel 5
Kansas City, MO
Local News | Weather		 My KSMO TV
Kansas City, MO
FOX Carolina 21 FOX Carolina (WHNS 21)
Greenville, SC – Asheville, NC
Local News | Weather		 FOX 5 Vegas FOX 5 Vegas (KVVU)
Las Vegas, NV
Local News | Weather
WNEM Channel 5
Flint/Saginaw, MI
Local News | Weather		 CBS 3 Springfield WSHM CBS 3 Springfield (WSHM)
Springfield/Holyoke, MA
Local News | Weather

Also within Meredith’s Local Media Brands is a service developed and known as ONE Service, or On-Air Notification Entry System. ONE Service is an efficient solution to presenting time-sensitive information on the news, that would be traditionally found in local newspapers. A major service of ONE Service is their Obituary Notification service, which announces during weekday morning or noon shows and on weekend morning shows of any obituary notifications within up to 4 days, along with information of the respective upcoming funeral services. [4]

National Coverage

On a national level, Meredith Corporation is solidified by its core selection of magazines. From ranging selections including fitness to farming, Meredith Corporation helps provide knowledge to help women in all aspects of their lives. Magazines within Meredith Corporation include:

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • More
  • Ladies’ Home Journal
  • Family Circle
  • Fitness
  • Parents
  • ReadyMade
  • Traditional Home
  • American Baby
  • Midwest Living
  • Wood
  • Successful Farming
  • Siempre Mujer
  • Ser Padres

Over the last year, Meredith has aggressively expanded its digital portfolio by offering:

  • Subscriptions and single-issues of nearly 20 brands on a range of tablet devices and distribution channels;
  • Over a dozen branded mobile Apps each with over 1 million downloads;
  • A broad array of branded consumer websites, including the recently acquired Allrecipes.com, that comprise the Meredith Women’s Network and reach approximately 40 million unique users every month;
  • Over 10,000 original videos, including the recently launched Digs Channel on YouTube. [5]

International Coverage

Along with local and national coverage, Meredith Corporation offers an service to international consumers throughout the world through its international branch, Meredith International. Meredith International’s goal, led by Meredith Corporation’s Chief Development Officer John Zieser, is to extend Meredith’s leading consumer publications to people of all countries.

Meredith offers its partners high-end editorial content, marketing expertise and consumer research derived from more than 100 years of experience as the leading media company serving women in the United States. The backbone to our ability to share content is Meredith’s proprietary digital library, housing over a million images and articles, and hundreds of hours of video. [12]

Click on the following link to watch a detailed description of Meredith International

 

Latest News

January

Meredith Corporation acquired the assets of Family Fun from Disney Publishing Worldwide to acquire the highly popular magazine, along with its special interest publications and its Toy Hopper and digital magazine applications. Financial terms of the acquisition however have yet to be disclosed [6].

February

Meredith Corporation announces its renewal of The Better Show for its sixth straight season, beginning in September 2012. The show has already cleared four of the top five U.S. markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia) and has already sold in 135 cities. Groups such as CBS, Lin, Sinclair, Hearst, Newport, Gray, Northwest, and New Age have renewed or acquired the rights for the fall. [7]

March

Meredith Corporation and the Reader’s Digest Association Inc. reached an agreement for Meredith’s acquisition of Allrecipes.com, the world’s NO. 1 digital food brand. This acquisition placed Meredith first in comScore’s Food Community rankings, doubled Meredith Women’s Network’s audience, and granted it the power to offer advertisers and marketers access to more than 100 million American women across all media platforms. The transaction was valued at $175 million [8]

April

Meredith Corporation increased its rate base for EatingWell magazine from 500,000 to 600,000, an increase from 70 percent from the year before. In January 2012, EatingWell’s rate base had been raised from 350,000 to 500,000, and is currently being visited by close to 4 million unique visitors a month. [9] On April 16, 2012, Jon Werther had been named Meredith Corporation’s Chief Strategy Officer, placing him in charge of evolving corporate and business unit strategies and leading key initiatives. [10]

June

Meredith Corporation announced its decision to offer digital editions of its most popular magazines, including such well-known titles as Family Circle, EveryDay with Rachel Ray, Ladies’ Home Journal, Midwest Living, and MORE, as magazines on Google Play. [6]

October

Meredith Corporation announced that it had reached an agreement with CelebTV (www.celebtv.com)  to feature daily original HD videos on Meredith’s Divine Caroline (www.divinecaroline.com) site. Under the terms of the arrangement, CelebTV will play videos on everything Hollywoood, ranging from breaking news, movie reviews, celebrity hookups, pregnancies, and more. With Divine Caroline having over 2 million monthly unique visitors, Meredith Women’s Network had reached 40 million unique vistors monthly. [11]

 

Works Cited:

[1] Meredith Corporation Summary – Yahoo! Finance

[2] Meredith Corporation Mission Statement

[3] Meredith Corporation Local Coverage

[4] Meredith Corporation ONE Service

[5] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=130026

[6] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=110544

[7] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=118747

[8] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=122827

[9] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=126857

[10] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=126930

[11] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=134685

[12] http://www.meredith.com/meredith_corporate/meredith_intl.html

 

Gannett Broadcasting

Posted on by 
by Scott Weinstein

Gannett Co., Inc.
7950 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22107-0150
703-854-6000 / www.gannett.com

A Brief Overview

In 1923, Frank Gannet founded Gannett Company, Inc. in Rochester, New York. It began as an extension of Gannett’s newspaper company that was founded in 1906 and has expanded to a multi-media company that no longer just publishes newspapers (1). “Gannett is a media and marketing solutions company with a diverse portfolio of broadcast, digital, mobile and publishing companies.” They own more than 90 daily newspapers, about 1,000 weekly newspapers, 23 television stations and many more media holdings. Gannett operates in 41 U.S. states and six countries (2). Gannett is expanding its brand and as the CEO, Gracia Martore said at the UBS Global Communications Conference, “The media business does not stand still for even a minute we take for granted that change is relentless and we have to show up with our A game everyday.” (3)

Gannett Broadcasting: Company Overview

Gannett Broadcasting’s division is comprised of 23 television stations and its subsidiary Captivate. The former reaches 21 million households in 20 markets, which is approximately 18.2% of the U.S. population (2). The latter is a company that delivers news, information, and advertising through video monitors in elevators. They are currently located in North America and reach more than 4 million workers (4). At the end of 2011, the amount of employees, both full-time and part-time, totaled about 2,600 (5).

 

Executives (6)

The Faces of Gannett Company, Inc. (Lougee, Beall, Martore, Harker)(16,17,18,19)

Broadcast Office

David T. Lougee , President, Gannett Broadcasting

Lynn Beall; Executive vice president, Gannett Broadcasting, and president and general manager, KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO

Company Office

Gracia Martore, President and Chief Executive Officer

Victoria D. Harker, Chief Financial Officer

Assets 

As noted earlier the company owns 23 different television stations across the country, in 21 different markets. Seven of the 21 markets owned by Gannett are in the top 20 market (7).

(20, 21, 22, 23)

The stations are comprised of 12 NBC affiliates, 6 CBS affiliates, 3 ABC affiliates, and two MyNetworkTV affiliates. These affiliation agreements expire with NBC in 2017, with CBS in 2015, and with ABC and MyNetwork TV in 2014. The most successful weekly audiences, based on the November 2011 Nielsen sweeps, are the CBS affiliate in Washington DC (WUSA-TV) with 1,797,000; the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia (WXIA-TV) with 1,602,000; and the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota (KARE-TV) with 1,297,000. (8)

The ratings of these stations continue to do well. Lucky for Gannett, more than half of its stations are NBC affiliates, and this past November was the first time since 2003 that NBC ranked number one in the Nielsen prime time ratings programming amongst adults 18-49. This increased revenue, as many people tuned into the NBC programming. Furthermore, the past Summer Olympics in London were the most watched games in Olympic history, attracting more than 200 million people. KUSA-TV in Denver was the top rated NBC market affiliate during the two-week span of the games. Their Atlanta and Minneapolis NBC affiliates were ranked second and third respectively; and their St. Louis and Phoenix did well. In total the Gannett owned affiliate stations took six of ten top NBC affiliate markets in terms of ratings during the Olympics (3).

Arizona FlagstaffPhoenix KNAZ-TV (NBC)KPNX-TV (NBC)
Arkansas Little Rock KTHV-TV (CBS)
California Sacramento KXTV-TV (ABC)
Colorado Denver KTVD-TV (My Network TV)KUSA-TV (NBC)
District of Colombia Washington WUSA-TV (CBS)
Florida JacksonvilleTampa-St. Petersburg WJXX-TV (ABC)WTLV-TV (NBC)WTSP-TV (CBS)
Georgia AtlantaMacon WATL-TV (My Network TV)WXIA-TV (NBC)WMAZ-TV (CBS)
Maine BangorPortland WLBZ-TV (NBC)WCSH-TV (NBC)
Michigan Grand Rapids WZZM-TV (ABC)
Minnesota Minneapolis-St. Paul KARE-TV (NBC)
Missouri St. Louis KSDK-TV (NBC)
New York Buffalo WGRZ-TV (NBC)
North Carolina Greensboro WFMY-TV (CBS)
Ohio Cleveland WKYC-TV (NBC)
South Carolina Columbia WLTX-TV (CBS)
Tennessee Knoxville WBIR-TV (NBC)

 

Financial Information

Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly traded media holding company (GCI). On October 15 the third quarter results were released, and the broadcasting division’s success was monumental. Both revenue and profits were at a record high in all of Gannett broadcasting history. The operating revenue increased 36% from $174.3 million the last 3rd quarter to $237 million during the most recent 3rdquarter.  The television revenue was also up 38.1% from $168.8 million a year ago to $233 million. The substantial increase is mostly attributed to advertising, which includes $41.7 million spent on political advertising and $37 million spent on the summer Olympics related ads. The Olympics brought in an unprecedented amount of revenue from advertising. Their total was up 18% from four years ago during the Beijing Olympic games. Part of the explanation was that Gannett reached out to local advertisers to sell television time to. Lougee is looking to increase the revenue even more during the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia. In total, political revenue for the year will be $150 million. Prior to the 2012 election, Gannett lacked a strong political footprint, but that changed during this election. Because of more local coverage of elections, especially in swing state markets including Colorado, Florida, and Ohio, political advertising increased by a significant margin. Another source of the revenue came from retransmission fees, which accounted for $22.3 million. With retransmission consent in 2013, Gannett  will receive 135-140 million from distributors, which is up 41 to 46% from 2012. The fourth quarter results are expected to be at an all time high. When the books are closed for Gannett’s fiscal year, the broadcasting division will report record growth and revenue (3) (9).

YTD Stock Price (December 6, 2011-December 6, 2012) (24)

As far as the stock market is concerned, the current share price for GCI is $17.88. Their share price has seen an incline for the most part, as a year ago it was being sold at $13.13 (10) Just recently, a report was released by Dividend Channel that named them the top dividend stock with insider buying. On October 23, the Board of Directors of Gannett announced that a dividend of $0.20 per share would be payable to stockholders just after the new year. As of now the company is on track to return dividends up to $1.3 billion through 2015. Throughout the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference a common theme that both the CEO and CFO spoke about was making sure an increasing level of capital is returned to their shareholders. Furthermore, there is currently a large amount of cash flow totaling over one billion dollars. That money will be used to return even more cash and to invest into things that will expand the Gannett brand (3) (11).

Recent Happenings

Gannett and Dish Network

(25)

In late May, Dish Network introduced its Auto Hop feature available on its DVR service. This new technology allows users to skip over commercials on broadcast networks. While this is beneficial for TV viewers it hurts the broadcasters who lose advertising revenue. As a result of this feature, Dish Network and Gannett were having difficulty renewing their retransmission agreements (12). Gannett was looking for a 300% rate increase to compensate for the loss of revenue from advertisers. Dish Network’s stance was that they wanted to take a stand for customer choice and control. Fortunately for subscribers, rather than suffer from a blackout, the two companies reached a deal as the October 7th deadline was slightly extended. The terms of the deal have not been released, but the new contract is long term according to press releases by both companies (13).

Gannett and DirecTV

(26)

DirecTV customers narrowly avoided a blackout of Gannett television stations across the country. As the November 30th deadline approached, Gannett warned their viewers that they may experience a blackout of affiliate stations until an agreement was reached. This was all because Gannett was looking for a fair deal for retransmission fees, while DirecTV said that Gannett was trying to get customers to pay almost twice what they pay now for their stations. While the deal was made by the deadline, the details of the agreement have not been made public yet (14).

Sources

1. History of Gannett

2. Background info on the company

3. 40th Annual UBS Global Communications and Communications Conference Slide Show presentation Dec 5, 2012

4. About Captivate

5. 2011 Annual Gannett Company, Inc. Report

6. The Gannett Company, Inc. Leadership Team

7. http://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets

8. 2011 Annual Gannett Company, Inc. Report pgs. 14-17

9. Q3 Earnings, October 15, 2012

10. Google Finance

11. Press Release, December 5, 2012

12. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443768804578038742408997314.html

13. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/us-dish-gannett-idUSBRE89403I20121008

14. http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/25251/gannett-directv-avoid-local-tv-blackout.html

15. Captivate Image

16. Lougee image

17. Beall image

18. Martore image

19. Harker image

20. MyNetworkTV image

21. NBC image

22. ABC image

23. CBS image

24. Google Finance image

25. Dish Network image

26. DirecTV image

27. Gannett image

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entravision

Posted on by 
by [Sean Schupak]

Key Executives:

                                  Total Assets       Net Income               ($000; 2012 through Q3) [1]

  • 2008 –                592,983       –       528,556
  • 2009 –                487,927       –       50,072
  • 2010 –                490,810       –       18,086
  • 2011 –                467,321       –       8,200
  • 2012 –                451,507       –       5,904

Financial Overview:

The third period of 2012 was a period of growth for Entravision, highlighted by an increase of $8.4 million–17%–net revenue.  Television net revenue increased by $7.3 million–22%–which is by far the bulk of the company’s overall net revenue increase. [1]

Company Overview:

Entravision Communication Corporations is a Spanish-language media company with holdings in television, radio, and digital formats.  The company’s head quarters is located in Santa Monica, CA, where the company was first started in 1996.

Entravision holds 53 television stations in the United States, operating in 19 of the top 50 Hispanic markets.  Entravision’s television holdings are, for the most part, affiliates of the networks Univision and TeleFutura–the two networks owned by Univision Communications Inc.  [2]

The company’s primary source of revenue is “sales of national and local advertising time on television and radio stations, and from retransmission consent agreements.”  The company’s profits peak in the 3rd quarters of off years i.e. during years when there is either a presidential election of the FIFA World cup.

Relationship with Univision

Some of Entravision’s channes have exclusive rights deals with Univision to broadcast the corporation’s Univision and TeleFutura programming.  These are “long-term affiliation agreements” that expire in 2021, at which point they can be renewed.  Until that point, though, Entravision is entitled “to sell approximately six minutes per hour of available advertising time on Univision’s primary network, and approximately four and a half minutes per hour of available advertising time on the TeleFutura network.”

Univision also acts as Entravision’s “exclusive sales rep for the sale of national advertising on [Entravision’s] Univision–and TeleFutura–affilate television stations.”  During the third quarters of the past two years–2011 and 2012–Entravision has paid Univision “$2.8 million and $2.4 million, respectively.”

Official Logo of Univision Communications, Inc.
-corporate.univision.com

Entravision also has “marketing and sales agreements with Univision which give Entravision rights to manage marketing and sales operations of Univision owned TeleFutura and Univision affiliates in nine markets–Albuquerque, Boston, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.” [1]

Increasing Revenue and Impact of Political Advertising:

On November 1st, Entravision reported a television revenue of $40.9 million for the its third quarter this year.  This represented a 22% increase from its third quarter revenue in 2011.

The company attributed the increased revenue, in large part, to political advertisements.  2012, being an election year, saw a large number of advertisements for various campaigns [3].  The opportunity to broadcast such advertisements was not available the previous year.  This leap in revenue due to the election period is reflective of Entravision’s increasing role in the Latino political world, and the increasing population and activity of this particular market in the United States.

2012 Presidential Election:

Entravision covered the 2012 Presidential election extensively, providing a platform with which the Latitino population in the U.S. could stay informed.  They provided the most expansive coverage of the Democratic and Republican Conventions in September.

On Labor Day, Entravision aired an exclusive interview with President Barack Obama.  Entravision was also the only Spanish-language television company that was allowed an interview with the President in the contentious, battleground state of Colorado. [4]

In October, Entravision partnered with national non-profit Mi Familia Vota Education Fund.  The two came together to provide free rides for to polls in Denver, CO; Orlando, FL; Tampa, FL; Reno, NV; Las Vegas, NV; Palm Springs, CA; Stockton, CA; and Modesto, CA in an effort to help turn our Latino voters. [5]

New Management Structure:

On November 1, Entravision announced a new management structure.  The overhaul included promoting Jeffrey A. Liberman–who had previously been President of Entravision’s radio branch–to Chief Operating Officer of the company.  Mario M. Carrera–previously Senior Vice President of Spanish-Language Television–became Entravision’s Chief Revenue Officer.  Esteban Lopez Blanco–previously Entravision’s Executive Director of Interactive–was made Chief Strategy Officer, Corporate Development and Innovation.

The restructuring was a step in Entravision’s growing interest in digital, mobile, multi-media platforming. [6]

With television, radio and interactive assets serving the fastest-growing Latino markets in the nation, Entravision is uniquely positioned to meet the integrated multi-platform marketing needs of advertisers.  Our diverse asset base provides a comprehensive offering of media solutions targeting the Spanish-language community. This new management structure will allow us to strengthen our ability to serve our advertisers and consumer audiences, drive operating efficiencies and capitalize on a range of growth opportunities.
-Walter F. Ulloa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Wells Fargo Debt:

On November 29 Entravision’s Board of Directors declared that it would pay back $40 million worth of 8.750% notes due to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.  The payment is an early payment of a part of a larger debt outstanding due in 2017.  That debt will total at $324 million after the $40 million is payed.  The payment will be payed with $20 million cash-in-hand along with another $20 million from a separate, senior banking contribution.

Official Logo of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
-upi.com-

In addition, the Board of Directors declared that it would offer up a one-time-only $0.12 a share cash dividend to stock holders. [7]

Today’s announcements demonstrate our confidence in the health of our business and its ability to deliver solid cash flows, as well as our commitment to rewarding our shareholders.  We continue to review the strategic use of our capital and are pleased to further reduce our outstanding debt and return capital to shareholders through this special dividend.”

-Walter F. Ulloa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Stock Upgrade:

On December 4th, the investment website thestreet.com upgraded Entravision’s stock from a “sell” status to a “hold,” implying that the stocks have overall become more valuable and will, at least as projected, continue to improve in value.

The ratings site cites a number of reasons for the upgrade.  Entravision has slightly exceeded the average growth rate–15.8%–by achieving 16.7% growth in the last year.  As a result, the average earnings-per-share has increased considerable over the last year, an improvement that is considered indicative of overall improvement.

However, the website also cites a number of issues with Entravision stock.  Despite a high gross profit margin, Entravision’s net profit margin is an umimpressive 12.36%, which lags behind the industry average.  And despite maintaining a “very strong quick ratio of 2.87, which shows the ability to cover short-term cash needs, “debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 50.55 and currently higher than the industry average, implying increased risk associated with the management of debt levels within the company.”  Additionally, Entravision’s closing prices in the market have remained fairly consistent–neither increasing nor decreasing dramatically. [8]

Luminar:

In early August Entravision launched Luminar, an analytics company specifically geared towards the United States’ Hispanic market.  Luminar is a partership of Entravision and Impetus Technologies.  The project aims to create “a data driven organization, creating a cloud based data services platform, and creating new revenue streams focused on Hispanic consumers.”

Entravision presented the company at the Strata.Hadoop World Conference October 24.  The new division was unveiled as “the first Big Data analytics and modeling provider connecting marketeers with US Latino consumers. Luminar helps clients identify predictability models of consumer behavior to allow companies to reach, up-sell and retain Latino consumers more effectively.” [9]

References

[1]      Entravision Quarterly Report – Yahoo Finance

[2]      Entravision Company Website

[3]      Entravision Provides Expansive Election Coverage – Yahoo Finance

[4]      TV News Check

[5]      PR Newswire

[6]      Entravision Announces New Management Structure – Yahoo Finance

[7]      Entravision Partially Redeems Wells Fargo Notes – Yahoo Finance

[8]      TheStreet.com

[9]      LuminarInsights.com

Cox Media Group

Posted on by 
by Tyler Limpert

Cox Media Group is a company within Cox Enterprises which also owns and operates the national advertising firm Cox Rep. and the national marketing company Valpak.  Cox Enterprises was founded in 1898 in Dayton, Ohio by the founder, James Middleton Cox when he purchased Dayton Evening News. Cox was so successful with the newspaper that he eventually became Ohio’s first three-term Governer and the presidential nominee in 1920. The Cox Media Group was founded over a century later in December of 2008 when Cox Enterprises combined Cox Radio, Cox Newspaper and Cox Television. Out of the 15 stations Cox Media Group owns and operates, only two were started by the group,WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.  [1],[2]

2011 Metrics

  • Revenue = $1.7 Billion
  • Television Stations = 15
  • Television Viewer Reach = 30+ Million
  • Local Cable Channels = 1
  • Television Markets = 11
  • Local Cable Channels = 1
  • Page Views for Television Website = 996 million
  • Employees = 9,000 [3]
Mission Statement

Building on the foundation and talents of our core, we are transforming CMG into a digital media company by creating scalable content and advertising services businesses. And we will accomplish this with speed, passion and courage. [4]

Top Competitors

 Recent News

With the rise in audience approval of homegrown developed entertainment in the past few years and it’s expected hike in fall of 2012, Cox Media Group made sure they wouldn’t miss out on the new trend by taking up a one-third stake in RightThisMinute (along with Scripps and Raycom). The show airs during primetime on the local news channels owned by Cox Media Group all over the nation and includes viral videos with commentary from the cast. The show has a quirky 60 minutes vibe and has a log line of “Videos First, Before They Go Viral”. The show’s website also offers an option where viral videos can be sent to you by email (finally we don’t have to keep responding to that annoying coworkers emails to find the coolest viral videos!). The show which premiered in 2011 has been a success ever since and was a great investment by Cox Media Group. The show’s video content is available online at RightThisMinute.com, but to get the full episodes you need to be subscribed to a Cox, Scripps or Raycom Broadcasting network. Below is a promotional video for the show and is a good representation of the kind of informative entertainment Cox Media Group likes to provide it’s customers. [6],[7]

OCTOBER

October 3rd, 2012 Cox Media Group announces its plans to start a state-wide news operation in Georgia. The Georgia News Station powered by Cox Media Group will be replacing the the current Statewide News Network which will be filling out it’s duties until it retires at the end of the year. Cox Media Group has a long history in Georgia news and already owns WSB radio, WSB TV and the Atlanta Constitution. The headquarters for The Georgia News Station will be within the WSB radio facilities in Atlanta, GA. This integration of Cox Media Group resources combines more than 150 daily news reporters knowledge and sends it to the entire state of georgia in an easily digestible format.[8]

NOVEMBER

Dayton,Ohio
On November, 13th Cox Media Group Ohio, located in Dayton announced it will be accepting an award for it’s philanthropic contributions to the surrounding community. The award will be presented by the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Greater Dayton Region Chapter. It is a huge honor for WHIO-TV, WHIO radio and the Dayton Daily News especially since the entire Cox name grew out of Dayton, Ohio. The Cox Media Group Ohio Market Vice President Julia Wallace is accepting the award.[9]


Cox Media Group Ohio is very proud of it’s roots as the start of Cox Enterprises. In this promotional video you can see CMGO’s involvement with the surrounding community and how important Dayton’s success is to the group.

Hurricane Sandy
After Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast in early November, Cox Enterprises decided to put on their philanthropy boots. On November 12th in partnership with the John M. Cox Foundation , Cox Enterprises made a cash donation to the American Red Cross of $100,000 to be put towards the Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts. Cox Communications also helped out the American Red Cross by running ads and public service announcements online about the relief effort. Cox Media Group followed up this donation with a $75,000 donation towards Sandy relief efforts. [10]

DECEMBER

On December, 4th 2012 Cox Media Group closed it’s deal with Newport Television Stations in Jacksonville, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Cox Media Group President Doug Franklin recently commented on the deal closing in a statement release “Countless hours of hard work have taken place over the last few months to prepare for today, and I want to thank everyone at CMG and these stations involved who made today a reality”. Through the deal Cox Media Group acquired WAWS (FOX Affiliate) and WTEV-TV (CBS Affiliate) in Jacksonville, Florida and KOKI (FOX Affiliate) and KMYT-TV (MyNetworkTV Affiliate) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jim Zerwekh the Vice President and General Manager of WAWS and WTEV-TV only had good things to say about the deal too “The Action News Team is thrilled to be joining the Cox Media Group Family with their proven 100-plus year record of producing journalism excellence and commitment to the local community…This opportunity is a big win for our team, our city and our customers.” Even Holly Allen the Vice President and General manager at KOKI and KMYT had positive things to say, stating that her team in Tulsa is “thrilled to be joining a company that not only has deep historic roots in the news business, but also is continually looking toward the future.” The positive feedback from both sides of the deal shows how good the Cox reputation really is and how important this deal can be for Jacksonville and Tulsa. [11]

Conclusion

In conclusion Cox Media Group has had a very busy quarter and has invested time and money into bettering the local communities that they service throughout the nation. There philanthropic nature has existed long before these past few months and in return Cox Media Group Ohio, the birthplace of Cox Enterprises, was awarded a very prestige’s award.  Cox Media Groups philanthropy goes beyond Dayton, Ohio which could easily be seen by their contribution to the Red Cross after the devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought the east coast. You can also see how important the local communities are to Cox Media Group in Atlanta. When the State of Georgia realized they were losing their Statewide News Network by the end of 2012 they looked to Cox Media Group to fill the gap and Cox Media Group answered that call. Cox Media Group is a great example of a company that understands how important it can be in contributing to the growth of the United States one community at a time. With revenue in the billions you wouldn’t think a company would be so giving, especially in a world where high-profiting companies are seen as the bad guy. Cox Media Group gives a good name to big business.

 References

Cox Media Group Logo Image taken from-http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
Cox Media Group Video taken from-http://www.youtube.com/user/CoxMediaGroup?feature=watch
Cox Media Group Ohio Promo-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkYn90plYUU
RightThisMinute Promo- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpSNYp-SHgY
1.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
2.http://www.cmgohio.com/?q=direction
3.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
4.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
5.http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/competition.Cox_Media_Group_Inc.43d9201c0129306b.html
6.http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/489055-Station_Groups_Spin_Wheel_on_Homespun_Shows.php
7.http://www.rightthisminute.com/about
8.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/news/cmg-press-releases/cox-media-group-create-georgia-news-service/nSTQd/
9. http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/local/cox-media-group-ohio-honored-for-philanthropy/nS5Qy/
10.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cox-enterprises-donates-100000-to-american-red-cross-for-hurricane-sandy-victims-2012-11-12
11. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/cox-media-group-closes-on-purchase-of-newport-stations_b71843

AMC Networks

Posted on by 
by Jose Blanco

Courtesy of underconsideration.com

Key Exceutives

 

Charles Dolan Executive Chairman
Josh Sapan President & Chief Executive Officer
Ed Carroll Chief Operating Officer
Sean S. Sullivan Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Jamie Gallagher Executive Vice President & General Counsel
John P. Giraldo Chief Accounting Officer
Bob Broussard President, AMC Networks Distribution
Rob Doodian Executive Vice President, Human Resources
Ellen Kroner Executive Vice President, Communications & Marketing
Steven Pontillo Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer
David Evans Senior Vice President, Broadband
Paul Rehrig Senior Vice President, Business Development

Highest Competitors  

1. Showtime

2. HBO

Corporate Headquarters

AMC Networks Inc.
11 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10001
Main Phone #: (212) 324-8500

 

Brief Network Description

Previously known as Rainbow Media Holdings (a division of the Cablevision, the American cable television company), AMC Networks [1] is a public entertainment company that focuses on specialty television and independent film production based in New York City. Within their branch of premium cable television channels, AMC Networks focuses on producing original content through their multiple channels (AMC, WE tv, the Sundance Channel, and IFC).  On July 1st of 2011, Cablevision made AMC Networks [1] become a publicly traded company, leaving former Rainbow Media president, Josh Sapan, as President and CEO of AMC Networks. Previously recognized for their airing of classic movies, the company began producing original content in 2007 with the launch of programs such as “Mad Men” in AMC (their most popular channel to which the company was named after).

mad-men.jpg

Courtesy of Zap2it.com

Ever since,  AMC Networks has promoted the creation of high-quality original content in their programming. With hit shows such as “The Walking Dead”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad”, all of which have received critical acclaim and popular appraisal, AMC Networks has marked its presence in the television industry, especially with through their channel AMC. As their tagline states; “Story matters here.”.

This Year for AMC Networks

Third Quarter 2012 Results

AMC Networks has been seemingly busy this year, given to their known legal dispute [2] with DISH Network early on this summer that led the American cable company to “drop” all of AMC Networks’ programming since this July to early October until the dispute was finalized. A deeper analysis regarding to the  legal dispute and it’s result will continue further along the reading. Given to situations such as the previously stated, the company’s operating income (OI) decreased 8% in its Q3 [3] of this year (in comparison to Q3 of 2011) to a total of $87 million and its AOCF (adjusted operating cash flow) decreased 10.9% to $110 million (Q3 as well). According to AMC Networks’ most recent quarterly report, these blatant decreases in OI and AOCF are due to “ the impact of the litigation and associated carriage dispute with DISH Network.”. Now, OI also decreased due to “flat operating income at national networks and a $9 million increase in the operating loss at International and Other.” Normally when the network refers to its “International and Other” operation, its regarding its independent film production company IFC films, but AMC Networks is currently working on expanding its market on a global scale by opening up markets in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Canada, and Africa. [4]

Regardless of the networks decreasing OI and AOCF, the company has seen a steady increase in net revenues this year by a significant 17% ($332 million by the en of this year’s Q3 ) and an increase of 40% in share value this year (AMCX)[5], a share which is now traded at $52.25.  These revenues, which were off set by their legal disputes, were due to not only the success of their programming but also to their growth in digital and licensing distribution (which is one of the primary reasons for the incitement of their current and past conflicts with cable companies such as DISH Network) through deals with online platforms such as Amazon.com, Netflix, and iTunes. Within their national networks, this led to an increase of 24.3% of revenues to $199 million [3]. Although use of online platforms has increase, Josh Sapan announced at the 40th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference that took place recently on Dec. 4th “Our company has taken a rather more restrained approach on making our shows more accessible online. As a matter of policy its not good for the ecosystem, we chose to very selectively to sell our content.” then adding “We will support it. We will have to carefully manage where our rights go. We are in a position to balance that quite well and we have been compensating it for some time. We will be a good and healthy participant.” while referring to these online platforms [4].

DISH Network and AMC Networks

Now, what is this huge legal mumbo jumbo with DISH Network all about? AMC Networks current strategy consists of profit maximization through affiliate fees [5]. What they do is come up with two to three hit programs (“The Walking Dead”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad”) which make the channel indispensable to the carrier then fill the rest of the channels programming with inexpensive content such as non-fiction/reality programming (“Comic Book Men”, “Whisker Wars”). As posted in an article by Bill Gurley regarding affiliate fees on Abovethecrowd.com; “How can a cable company not offer “Mad Men”.” And they can’t and AMC knows so. Hence within their contracts they bundle up their other channels and relatively go better off in the contract [5].

dish_logo.jpg

Courtesy of infospace.ischool.syr.edu

“DISH felt that the network had devalued its admittedly popular dramas… by selling them to outlets such as Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon.com” according to an article on fool.com [6]. DISH felt as if they were being cut out and not just that, but AMC was demanding an increase in affiliate fees (which makes sense do to the success of their programs). DISH argued that AMC’s ratings did not meet with their demands.  Given to their disagreements, DISH dropped all programming from AMC Networks in July 2012. But AMC, as well put in fool.com, “won’t be bullied”[6] .

They retaliated by launching ads denouncing DISH’s decision to drop them from programming. With campaigns such as the “Put Zonbies Back” ad that showed footage of people costumed as zombies scrawling through the streets of New York City (in real life) promoting their apocalyptic series “The Walking Dead” and retaliating the carrier’s decision to drop it’s programming.

These campaigns gave way to fan made spoofs and responses that demanded DISH to bring back AMC programming.

They did not stop there. Through their advertising, they gave DISH customers a week to “switch” providers and leave DISH [7].

Many doubted on AMC’s success given that their viewership had decreased 7%-9% in July when compared to 2011, according to the video by the Wall Street Journal [8]. With these decreases in ratings, AMC gave advertisers free time spaces in online streaming trying to push the ratings up.  “You’d be surprised, there’s been a bit of a drop off since the black out started (referring to ratings when DISH dropped AMC)… these are niche products and as a result don’t have the same financial impact.” argued the WSJ [8].

Before the premiere of the third season of “The Walking Dead”, both parties agreed upon a settlement [9]. AMC and Cablevision would receive $700 million and receive a 20% stake with Voom HD, which offers up to 21 channels of HD programming. DISH acquired wireless spectrum licenses that cover up to 45 separate markets.

 

Television Channels

 

200px-Amc_logo.svg.png

Courtesy of wikemedia.org

A speciality cable television channel that focuses on providing original content such as their hit shows “The Walking Dead”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad” and airing classic films.

Recent News

People at the WSJ must have been biting their tongues when the “The Walking Dead” premiered on Oct. 14th and received 10.87 million viewers. But the real breakthrough [10]came with the show’s midseason finale that reached 15.2 million viewers on the night of the premiere, a 58% increase in comparison to its previous season finale (yet this was only the mid-season finale) and breaking records for cable television.  It surpassed all other fall programs that appeal to the 18-49 age demographic such as “the Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family”. Plus, the show’s new follow-up talk show “the Talking Dead” received a viewership of 2.2 million.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUvKSXO_Ipc

In February, AMC will premiere two new non-fiction tv-shows, “Immortalized” and “Freakshow“,  “The Walking Dead“, “the Talking Dead“(both returning Feb. 14th 2013), and the hit reality tv show “Comic Book Men” will also return that same month [11].

 

SundanceChannel.jpg

Courtesy of media.sundancechannel.com

The Sundance Channel is a cable television channel that airs original programming, independent films, documentaries, and short films plus recent news regarding the current year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Recent News

The Sundance Channel announced in November its upcoming releases of 5 new dramas of high caliber talent and “non-formaulative” story lines. These new premieres include shows such as “Valentines”, based off a novel by Olaf Olafsson and produced by Robert Redford that follows the life of a New York lawyer and his three daughters. Other shows include “Death in the Modern Age”, “T”, and “Behind the Sun” [12].

972772_orig.jpg

Courtesy of patrickgallo.weebly.com

 The IFC Channel (Independent Film Channel) airs independent film, original programming, and news and buzz relate to the independent film industry. IFC airs programs that range from slightly off comedies such as “Portlandia“, the multiple chapters of the R. Kelly “hip-hopera” “Trapped in the Closet“, to the absurdity behind beard competitions in the reality tv show “Whisker Wars“.

Recent News

AMC Networks has entered into fierce negotiations with Verizon in the past month concerning contract renewals.  Pressure has also escalated in negotiations with Timewarner concerning the networks low-rated channels that are being bundled with their stronger channels such as AMC. Both carriage companies have threatened to drop [13] the networks programming as a result of weak ratings from both  IFC and WE tv.

wetv-logo.jpg

Courtesy of 1.bp.blogspot.com

WE tv airs is a cable television channel that targets women and women’s issues. Programming includes documentaries, some original programming, talk shows, fashion shows, older feature films, and some re-runs of other TV shows. Their  latest hits include “Mary Mary“, a program that follows the lives of the famous gospel duo composed of the two ATkins-Campbell sister, Erica and Tina.

References

1. AMC Networks Homepage http://www.amcnetworks.com/default

2. Dish Network Settles Suit With AMC -WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203406404578070960821103982.html

3.Third Quarter Report of AMC Networks 2012 http://www.amcnetworks.com/release_release_press.jsp?nodeid=6602

4.40th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference http://cc.talkpoint.com/ubsx001/120312a_im/?entity=15_EJSUBIR

5.http://abovethecrowd.com/2010/04/28/affiliate-fees-make-the-world-go-round/

6.http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/10/22/amc-and-dish-work-out-a-new-deal-the-zombies-are-b.aspx

7.http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/07/15/amc-breaking-bad-news-for-dish-but-its-great-for-i.aspx

8. Drama of the Lost Dish Network http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAWgizbYfGw&feature=player_embedded

9. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/amc-back-dish-lawsuit-settled-381472

10. AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is The First Cable Series to Beat Every Other Show of the Fall Broadcast Season in Adult 18-49 http://www.amcnetworks.com/release_release_press.jsp?nodeid=6607

11. http://www.amctv.com/

12.Sundace Channel’s New Shows http://www.amcnetworks.com/release_release_press.jsp?nodeid=6601

13.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-03/time-warner-cable-threatens-to-drop-low-rated-networks.html

Weinstein Company

Posted on by

 

by [Annie Segal]

“The Weinstein Company” image courtesy of Google Images

The Weinstein Company is a privately owned film company headquartered in New York City and is active in film and television production.

Connect:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/weinsteinco

Twitter: http://twitter.com/WeinsteinFilms

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWeinsteinCompany

Website: http://weinsteinco.com/

A Brief History:

Bob and Harvey Weinstein founded The Weinstein Company in October 2005 and still run the company today.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein photo courtesy of Google images

They had previously founded Miramax Film Corp. in 1979 which was associated with Disney. Bob Weinstein also founded Dimension Films in 1993 which has produced such films as Spy Kids, Scream, and Scary Movie. These companies have joined together to release films that have been critical and commercial successes. TWC’s film The King’s Speech took home the 2011 Academy Award for Best Picture. The Artist won Best Picture and Undefeated won Best Documentary Film at the 2012 Academy Awards along with six others for TWC. They also own

For The Weinstein Company’s full description click here [1]

Top Competitors: 

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc.

Miramax Film Corp.

Sony Pictures Classics [3]

Finances:

TWC has 1.6% of the market share and is the 9th highest studio. Between January 1, 2012 and December 2, 2012 it has grossed over $162.9 million and has released 17 films. They were the 8th highest studio in 2011 with 2.9% of the market share and an annual gross of $296.1 million. TWC is a privately owned, limited liability company. It does not publicly release its annual net revenue and is not publicly traded. [2]

Movies Today:

The Weinstein Company has over 100 movie titles. Its top grossing movie of all time was The King’s Speech which grossed $135,453,143 in 2011 with Inglorious Basterds grossing $120,540,719 in 2010. TWC took home 8 Academy Awards in 2012. The Artist and Undefeated are currently sold on Blu-Ray and DVD. Their most successful film of the 2012 box office was Lawless which grossed $37,400,127. [4]

TWC currently has many new releases. Silver Linings Playbook is its current big release starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. It was directed by David O. Russell. The film is set in Philadelphia as Cooper’s character is released from a mental hospital. He quickly meets Lawrence’s character who is a young, crazy widow. They develop a relationship while training for a dance competition. [5]

Killing Them Softly is also one of their big releases. It is starring Brad Pitt. Pitt plays an enforcer hired to track down three guys who try to rob a mob protected card game. It has already grossed $8,575,010 since its November 30th release after being pushed back from its October release to be an Oscar contender.

[6]

Neither film topped the box office due to MGM‘s release of the James Bond movie Skyfall and Summit Entertainment‘s Breaking Dawn Part 2. Both grossed over $200 million.

Movies to be released:

Django Unchained is TWC’s next big release by Quentin Tarantino. It is set in 19th century America when slavery was still legal. A slave (Jamie Foxx) and a German bounty hunter (Chistroph Waltz) team up to find and rescue Foxx’s character’s wife whom Leonardo DiCaprio‘s character has captured. The film is set two years before the Civil War takes place in the American south. Django (Foxx) and Schultz (Waltz) must rescue Django’s wife from the Candyland Plantation. There is a lot of controversy around the film as it sheds light on slavery and the darkness of the Civil War era. [8]

Tarantino on the film’s controversy:

“When slave narratives are done on film, they tend to be historical with a capital H, with an arms-length quality to them. I wanted to break that history-under-glass aspect, I wanted to throw a rock through that glass and shatter it for all times, and take you into it.” [7]

The studio is also looking forward to the release of Quartet starring Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon and directed by Dustin Hoffman. Smith plays a diva who interrupts the lives of retired opera singers at a retirement home. The release date for the film is January 11th. [9]

The Los Angeles Times Review:

“Quartet” is very much a performance piece, which plays to Hoffman’s strength – as an actor he knows when to allow this excellent ensemble breathing room and when to tighten the belt.” [12]

Oscar Buzz 2013:

Silver Linings Playbook premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to flying colors. It could have multiple Oscar nods including Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Jennifer Lawrence snagged most of the buzz for Best Supporting Actress. Winning at age 22 could make her the youngest woman to win Best Actress. Robert De Niro could also get his first Oscar in over 20 years.

Killing Them Softly could also be an Oscar contender. Harvey Weinstein originally pushed the release date from October 19, 2012 to November so it would be good competition come Oscar season.

The Master, a period drama, has already generated many awards for best film and best actors/actresses. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as a naval veteran unsure of his future. [11]

“The Master” photo courtesy of google images

TWC has acquired the The Butler. “”The Butler” focuses on Eugene Allen (played by Academy Award winner Forrest Whitaker), a service worker at the White House through eight administrations. Oprah Winfrey plays Allen’s wife, while actors John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Robin Williams and James Marsden portray, respectively, former U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.” [10]. Although filming has not yet been finished, there is much Oscar buzz around this story.

Weinstein on director Lee Daniels:

“Lee tells stories in a way no one else does. What struck me most about this story is the perspective it comes from, which in this case is the butler- a man who was a fly on the wall for decades in the world’s most powerful home. It takes an unbelievable cast like the one that’s in place to do this story justice, and we are proud to be given the chance to share this story with the world.” [13]

TWC in 2012:

December 4, 2012: Weinstein Co. To Produce Short Films Series With Lexus.

November 6, 2012: ‘Any Day Now’ and ‘Quartet’ share Audience Choice Award

October 18, 2012: A Wonderful ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ to open Philadelphia Film Festival

July 27, 2012: Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Master’ moved to Sept. 14 and ‘Killing Them Softly’ to Oct. 19. 

May 7, 2012: Weinstein Co. picks up rights to Dustin Hoffman’s ‘Quartet’.

April 6, 2012: PG-13 Rating Granted for ‘BULLY’ by MPAA without crucial cutting scene. 

January, 2012: ‘The Reader’ Author Bernard Schlink sues Weinstein Co. Over Movie Profits.

January 11, 2012: ‘The Artist’ takes top honors at Globes.

 

Sources:

[1] The Weinstein Company http://weinsteinco.com/ 

[2] Box Office Mojo http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/?view=company&view2=yearly&yr=2012&p=.htm

[3] Yahoo Business http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/148/148445.html

[4] Box Office Mojo http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?view2=release&view=company&studio=weinsteincompany.htm

[5] Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj5_FhLaaQQ

[6] Indiewire.com http://www.indiewire.com/static/dims4/INDIEWIRE/d47855e/4102462740/thumbnail/680×478/http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/ac/5d1410ed6011e1baf122000a1d0930/file/KILLING-THEM-SOFTLY-POSTER-header.jpg

[7] The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/dec/07/quentin-tarantino-slavery-django-unchained

[8] Fandango http://www.fandango.com/djangounchained_v538627/plotsummary

[9] IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441951/ 

[10] Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/the-butler-the-weinstein-company_n_1910462.html

[11] ScreenInvasion.com http://screeninvasion.com/2012/09/oscar-watching-all-about-the-weinstein-company/#.UMI-92k-uPc

[12] LA Times http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-quartet-review20121205,0,729016.story 

[13] Deadline.com http://www.deadline.com/2012/09/weinstein-company-acquires-lee-daniels-the-butler/