Spotify by Daniel Rakow

Posted on February 18, 2016 by smwarren

Executives

History

Spotify was developed in 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded by the former CTO of Stardoll, Daniel Elk and the co-founder of TradeDoubler, Martin Lorentzon. They officially launched the music streaming service in October of 2008 for paid subscribers and in 2009 they made their service available for free subscriptions. The free subscriptions opened up the service to a bigger audience while slightly hindering their income. In 2011 Spotify crossed over into the United States market and also introduced the Spotify App for devices. (1)

More About Spotify

Since 2011, Spotify has solidified its spot as one of the top music streaming services along with Apple Music and Tidal. Today, Spotify features curated playlists that are made by their employees for paid subscribers. They have radio stations that allow the user to discover new music based on artists that are similar to the ones the user listens to. Along with that, they have a huge library of music consisting of 30 million songs. Their premium service allows users to access all of their songs and provides weekly curated playlists called Discover Weekly. Currently, they have over 75 million users with 30 million of those users being paid subscribers. (2)

Potential Change of Location

(Swedish Flag)

As of recent, Spotify has been hinting at a change of location for its headquarters. Since they started the company, they have been based in Stockholm, Sweden. However, recent circumstances have lead them to reconsider their choice to remain in their hometown. As Elk wrote in an open letter that he posted online, “We love Sweden and believe that this is basically the best environment for us. But at the same time we cannot magically remove the political obstacles. Thousands of Spotify jobs could go to the U.S instead of Sweden.” Spotify is frustrated with the Swedish governments inability to let businesses in their country grow. To start, Spotify believes the housing situation needs to be revisited. It’s extremely difficult to rent apartments in Stockholm because such a large amount are controlled by housing associations. It could take over 10 years to get a rental apartment which makes it extremely difficult for Spotify to bring in foreign talent. Another area Spotify argues needs change is their education system. They argue that the country doesn’t focus at their schools enough on technology. This leads to a lack of programmers for them to hire. The lack of knowledge causes them to have to train more workers, which could be avoided. Lastly, Spotify hopes to change Sweden’s stock options. The country’s rules don’t allow Spotify to grant their employees stock options which would attract brighter employees. (6) (7)

Competition

In the last month Spotify has had to deal with more competition than ever. Not only have they been going head to head with Apple’s streaming service Apple Music, they have also seen a few new players enter the streaming world. To start, Apple has signed exclusive contracts with big artists. These artists’ new albums debut on Apple Music and take a few weeks before they are available on Spotify. Artists like Drake have Spotify users growing impatient when he drops new content. He has 24 million monthly listeners and is the 7th most played artist on Spotify. This could hurt them eventually if it doesn’t change. Jay-Z music streaming service Tidal is another competitor with Spotify. In early February Rihanna took to Tidal to release her new album Anti. While it is now available on Spotify, for months it had users converting to Jay-z’s service to access it. Similarly, Kanye West exclusively released his new album The Life of Pablo on Tidal. However, The Life Of Pablo was recently made available on Spotify as well. Soundcloud, in the last month, has also entered the subscription space. They created Soundcloud Go which will also directly compete with Spotify. Even with all these competing services, Spotify has a loyal user base of over 75 million people that will be hard to take away from them. (8)

Spotify x Billboard

(Billboard)

On April 21 Billboard announced it’s partnership with Spotify for 2016. This is a huge win for Spotify over Apple Music. Billboard will bring all of its users to Spotify instead of Apple Music. Billboard’s charts are turning to Spotify to make it easier for its users to access today’s hits by streaming songs directly from their weekly charts. Now, when viewing the Hot 100 or Billboard 200 the user is able to listen to the songs they are analyzing. There are 30 second previews directly next to the song on the chart that also give the option to stream the full version on Spotify. Billboard will also be publishing 3 new spotify driven charts on billboard.com. One will be a 30 song Velocity Chart which will include the 30 most trending songs on Spotify. The next will have a Viral 50 chart which will consist of the 50 most shared songs across social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Lastly there will be a Velocity Chart with 30 songs with 5 songs for each decade (1960-2000). To take a look at the Billboard Hot 100 with Spotify streaming click here. (9)

Money

Spotify recently has raised over 1 billion dollars in debt financing. This is a substantial amount especially for a company that is financially stable. It is no doubt that Spotify now has money to spend but the question is: what will Spotify decide to do with all this extra money? forbes.com went into detail with ways that Spotify is planning on improving. Firstly, they are expected to get into the video space. Apple and Tidal already both have video content on their service. Spotify, being their number one competitor, will definitely start exploring music videos, behind the scenes, artist episodes, tour videos, and live footage. One major area they will have to work on is their payment rates. Their current rate per stream is .004. This rate tends to anger artists because they believe they are not being compensated for their art. This has lead artists like Taylor Swift and Adele to not allow their catalog of music to be included on their streaming service. With the extra money Spotify is planning to start working in these areas. (10)

Sources

(1) Streatfield, Brooke. Rise of a Tech Giant: The History of Spotify. The Telegraph. Retrieved: April 25, 2016

(2) Person, Adam Pasick. The Magic That Makes Spotify’s Discover Weekly Playlists so Damn Good. Quartz. Retrieved: April 25, 2016

(3) Bertoni, Steven. Spotify’s Daniel Elk: The Most Important Man In Music. Forbes. Retrieved: April 24, 2016

(4) Sloan, Paul. The Future of Music. CNET. Retrieved: April 24, 2016

(5) Spotify. Vulcan Post. Retrieved: April 25, 2015

(6) McIntrye, Hugh. Spotify May Soon Leave Sweden. Forbes. Retrieved: April 23, 2016

(7) Swedish Flag. Eduniversal. Retrieved: April 23, 2016

(8) Apple Music’s Biggest Swipe at Spotify Yet. Music Business Worldwide. Retrieved: April 24, 2016

(9) Billboard Staff. Billboard Announces Spotify as Exclusive Playback Partner of The Charts. Billboard. Retrieved: April 24, 2015

(10) McIntrye, Hugh. What Can Spotify Do With The $1 Billion It Just Raised? Forbes. Retrieved: April 24, 2015

Singleton, Micah. Spotify Hits 30 million Subscribers. The Verge. Retrieved: April 25, 2016

IAC

Posted on December 1, 2014 by jypirogo

by Jacob Pirogovsky

IAC began in 1986 and was originally called the Silver King Broadcasting Company and was owned by the Home Shopping Network. Later in 1992, it became its own publicly traded company. The company went through a series of name changes from USA Networks, Inc. to USA Interactive, before finally changing it to IAC/InterActiveCorp in July of 2004. Since that time IAC/InterActiveCrop has been acquiring a variety of companies in a very wide array of different fields. They divide their holdings into four main groups: Search and Applications, The Match Group, Media, and eCommerce. Each of these groups has a plethora of companies, as seen in the image below, all of which influence the decisions and finances of InterActiveCorp as a whole.

All 4 segments broken up, with revenue information. SOURCE: Berkeley Investment Group

This period* has seen a lot of changes for IAC, as well as its subsidiaries. One major one was that Bonnie Hammer, the chairman for NBCUniversal Cable was appointed to the board of IAC in September by IAC’s CEO Barry Diller, who says “She’s a superb businesswoman, programmer and brand builder.” With her expertise in the television industry, she will be able to give the company insight into growing audiences and as a very influential social activist she will be able to attract some positive press for IAC, especially in light of the drama surrounding Tinder’s executives.

In early September a court case was settled between one of Tinder’s co-founders, Justin Mateen, and an early employee, Whitney Wolfe, who accused Mateen of sexual harassment. IAC reached a settlement with Wolfe so that it wouldn’t go to trial, but

2 of Tinder’s Co-Founder’s – Sean Rad (left) and Justin Mateen (right). SOURCE: Forbes

everything was deemed confidential so much of what happened is unknown to the public. Mateen left the company after being suspended in July. Now, in November Tinder’s co-founder and CEO Sean Rad has been forced to step down by IAC. The news came to him while he was at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in October, where he was about to announce that Tinder was going to monetize. Both of these things have big implications for Tinder and IAC. The app has grown 600% in the last year and has 30 million users who collectively check out 1.2 billion other users. With the new premium model, revenue predictions for 2015 are about $150 million. Rad, who will remain on the board of Tinder, is working with Matt Cohler, a partner at Benchmark and a newcomer to the Tinder board, to find a new CEO for the company.

SOURCE: Forbes

In terms of other finances, IAC released a third quarter earnings report for 2014 at the end of October. According to Yahoo! Finance, the company earned about $30 million more than analysts had predicted for this quarter. Overall, it has had 3% growth in the last year. In The Match Group, revenue increased by 12% and in the eCommerce segment, HomeAdvisor’s revenue grew 20%, with an overall growth of 14% in the segment. In the third quarter Search & Applications decreased 3% in the last year. Meanwhile, in the Media segment of IAC, Vimeo revenue increased by 30% and now has more than 530,000 subscribers; however, overall the Media revenue went down 1% in the last year.

IAC’s stock over the past year on the NASDAQ. SOURCE: Bloomberg Markets

Very recently in early November, Mindspark (an IAC subsidiary) acquired Apalon, a company that develops applications for Apple and Google Play, and whose apps have had more than 100 million downloads in the past year. “The combination of Apalon’s world-class mobile app development skills with Mindspark’s proven ability to distribute digital applications at scale is a huge differentiator and strategic advantage in the marketplace,” said Eric Esterlis, co-president of Mindspark. The two companies will complement each other and will help fight the decrease in revenue in the Search and Application segment of IAC.

SOURCE: About.com

Another revenue booster for that segment is the redesign of About.com’s website. The site hadn’t been redesigned since 2007, so the re-launch of the site in September has had some profound effects on users. On average they stayed on the site 24% longer and viewed 18% more articles than before the redesign. Additionally, the previous design was built to come up higher in Google searches to increase cost-per-click ad revenue; however, because Google’s algorithm is always changing and to decrease dependency on this type of ad, the site is now making more deals with advertisers to sponsor different sections of the site.

In the eCommerce segment, the EVP and CFO of Shoebuy.com, John Foristall was selected as an honoree “40 Under 40” award, which is given out annually by the Boston Business Journal to people who have made a major impact in their field. In addition, the company partnered with Rodgers and Hamerstein’s Cinderella to launch a limited collection of special occasion footwear inspired by the show. The cooperation helped increase the overall revenue of the segment.

In the media segment, Aereo, an online streaming service that offered live and recorded programs, filed for bankruptcy protection in November, after losing a major court case. The company was said to have violated programming copyright protections, according to a Supreme Court decision. The startup was beginning to revolutionize broadcast TV viewing, and even though it ended up failing, it will most likely lead to future attempts of a similar service.

SOURCE: Bloomberg WEST

Up until the past few years, Vimeo, another one of IAC’s media holdings, was having a hard time figuring out how to monetize, other than through subscription users. Now through Vimeo On Demand, their on demand platform, they have an additional revenue stream. In October, they made deals with two big YouTube producers, Phil DeFranco and the Orchard online network, which put their content onto Vimeo as well. Additionally, Vimeo just had their first original series, “High Maintenance,” premiere in November. According to Indiewire, the show is the future for web series and indie television. The series directors were in ongoing talks with FX to bring the show to cable, but ended up cancelling because they didn’t want to lose creative control. In light of that they made a deal with Vimeo for the financing. As Vimeo caters more towards industry professionals, the high production value show has found the perfect home and will bring more revenue to the site. Even though the show has always been on Vimeo, they are now promoting it; and they have given the series it’s own channel and have begun charging 1.99 per episode. This doesn’t seem to be a deterrent because according to Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor, “High Maintenance” made more money in the first two days after it released and charged for episodes than it would have made with YouTube ad sales over the past two years.

High Maintenance // Stevie from Janky Clown Productions on Vimeo.

Overall, IAC/InterActiveCorp has had a very busy semester with lots of acquisitions and new deals being made to stay up to date in today’s ever changing fast-paced media driven world. As the year comes to an end, Ask.com recently released the top searches of 2014, marking a comeback in the struggling site. Looking ahead, in all four sectors of the company, IAC plans to maintain and increase its status as the 13th largest network in the world.

*a period from August 25th – December 1st 2014

KEY EXECUTIVES:
Barry Diller – Chairman & Senior Executive
Victor Kaufman – Vice Chairman
Jeff Kip – Executive VP & CFO
Greg Blatt – Chairman, The Match Group

Address:
555 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 1-212-314-7300
Company URL: iac.com

Sources:

Forbes.com: Tinder harassment settlement, Tinder monetizing/new CEO
Variety.com: Bonnie Hammer story
Tvbythenumbers: Hammer’s social activism information
IAC.com: Q3 report, Brand homepages, executives, Press Releases
Yahoo! Finance: IAC financial information
Bloomberg.com: Aereo story, Vimeo’s new content
IndieWire.com: High Maintenance information
The Hollywood Reporter.com: Vimeo On Demand information
Fastcompany.com: About.com redesign

Images/Video:

-Forbes.com: Tinder Co-Founders, Sean Rad Interview
-Bloomberg.com: Aereo Interview, IAC Stock Chart
-Berkeley Investment Group: IAC breakdown chart
-About.com: Website redesign
-Vimeo.com: High Maintenance episode

Sirius XM Radio

Posted on December 1, 2014 by htfergus

by Andrew Spalter

Courtesy of Consumer Affairs [1]

Seriously, what is Sirius XM [2]?

Sirius XM is a commercial-free listening service that is always in your grasp. Whether it be by smartphone, tablet, computer, home, or even car, you can always listen to Sirius XM radio within Wifi or Cellular range. The channels consist of every genre, play-by-play sports, news and talk, and the biggest/hottest entertainment, 24/7.

Sirius XM has over 175+ channels that range from every genre of music to some of the most listened to entertainment channels in the world, including the wildcard, Howard Stern [3]. With over 26 million subscribers [4] Sirius is one of the largest most subscribed to Music Streaming/Radio service.

sirius_xm_channel_lineup_starting_may_4_2011

Courtesy of Maple Crest for Lincoln Union [5]

Who is in Charge [6] Here?

James E. Meyer (CEO) -Courtesy of SBU.edu [7]

MV5BODkyOTYxMjA1N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMTI0OTIz._V1_SY317_CR9,0,214,317_AL_

Scott Greenstein (President & Chief Content Officer) -Courtesy of IMBD.com [8]

Dara Altman (Left) (Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer) -Courtesy of New York Social Diary [9]

Resources-16149-DonnellyP_2011_20141011115535

Patrick L. Donnelly (Executive VP & General Counsel) -Courtesy of Pli.edu [10]

Sirius XM’s Financials [11]

Closing the previous weekend, Sirius XM (SIRI) [12] is trading at $3.63. Since Sirius XM is a publicly traded company, their total company revenue has sky rocketed the past few years. Going from a $3 Billion revenue to closing at a $3.8 Billion revenue last year. Sirius XM is the largest radio broadcaster [4] and their revenue stream comes from their 26.7 million subscribers. A large amount of their 26.7 million subscribers comes from their vast array of listening devices that their service can be installed on. Everything from a smartphone to a car has the ability to obtain Sirius XM. Along with their multiple ways to be listened to, they have a huge range of genres and entertainment stations including, Howard Stern, Oprah, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, and Tiesto.

-Courtesy of Google Search [13]

Competitors? Who? [14]

Who can compete with a company this large and with fans this loyal and committed into yearly contracts? Not many in fact. Companies such as Pandora [15], or Apple/iTunes [16] (radio), Spotify (Radio) [17], etc., are the closest competitors to Sirius XM. The reason that these particular apps/companies are competitors is due to the fact that you can pay for their radio service. These companies that are competitors to that of Sirius XM are extremely different due to the fact that you cannot instal those streaming services in your car [18] or home. Although, now with new technology you are able to store the application version of these companies into your car, home, phone, and tablet. They are slowly approaching that of the power of Sirius XM, but slowly.

History of Sirius XM

Before Sirius XM was Sirius XM there was a Sirius Radio and a XM Radio, separately. In July of 2008 Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio announced that they had completed their merger [19].

Courtesy of Toplessactions.com [20]

Since then the companies have been called Sirius XM radio and instead of mainly cars only offering Sirius, or XM radio, they offer Sirius XM radio. Before the huge merge, in 2000 the FCC allowed satellite radio to be deployed, thus the launch of three satellites [21] into orbit from Kazakhstan in July. Soon after that Sirius secured partnerships with Chrysler, Ford, and BMW and in 2002 they launched the initial phase of its service in the cities of Denver, Houston, Phoenix, and Jackson, MS [22] in February of 2002, then in July Sirius spread nationwide.

Where can YOU find Sirius XM?

With Sirius covering of 3,717,792 [23] square miles of coast to coast coverage, and with a reach of 200 miles off shore, Sirius XM goes where you go. The satellite radio service can be found in vehicles built by GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Audi, and Volkswagen [24].

Courtesy of Siriusxm.com [25]

Not only can you find the satellite radio in 11 car companies but you can listen to the service in your car, home, boat, plane, business, or even on the go from your Smartphone, Tablet, and Computer. Other places that are capable of playing from Sirius XM are Android devices, the Kindle Fire, Blu-ray & Media Players, Home Audio, Custom Audio, and Smart TV’s. [26]

What’s Happening at Sirius XM, What Can You Expect?

Recently you may have heard that Sirius XM and their competitor Pandora have been slammed with a series of lawsuits over older recordings. The reason beyond these lawsuits is due to the fact that neither company pays record labels or artists for songs that were recorded before the year 1972. This was due to the copyright protection that was first applied to recordings via Federal copyright protection [27].

Courtesy of Bloggless.com [28]

Overall both companies lost their lawsuits but this is a big awakening and a step forward for music subscription via satellite. When one door closes another one opens and due to these lawsuits Sirius XM will be paying artists and labels appropriately, creating lasting business relationships.

Upcoming News/Numbers

Contrary to popular belief, Sirius XM was not always so profitable. Only a few months after their merger in 2008, Sirius was on the cusp of declaring bankruptcy but with the help of a $530 million loan from Liberty Media in 2009, Mel Karmazin was able to negotiate a deal for 40% equity stake in Sirius XM. Then in their fourth quarter of 2009, Sirius XM reported a profit of income of a little over $14 million [29], since then it has all been up hill. They even released a statement via their companies investor site stating, “We expect to double factory installed vehicles to over 100 million by 2018 and plan to offer our unique content and valuable entertainment to even more customers in the future.” (Jim Meyer, President, Sirius XM) [30] In 2012 this statement was released and during that time, Sirius XM was in over 50 million cars. Their goal is coming into fruition with adding nearly half a million subscribers per quarter. Maybe it won’t hit 100-million vehicles, but they are constantly raising the bar higher and higher. The company Sirius XM has made a complete turned a complete 180 from being nearly bankrupt to a company that substantially increases profit each quarter.

Sources:

1. Sirius XM Logo, Consumeraffairs.com, RT: 11/20/2014

2. What is Sirius XM?, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

3. Howard Stern Info, Siriusxm.com/howard100, RT: 11/20/2014

4. Subscriber Info, Siriusxm.com/corporate, RT: 11/20/2014

5. Channel Listings, Maplecrestfordlincolnunion.com, RT: 11/21/2014

6. Executives, Siriusxm.com/bios, RT: 11/20/2014

7. James E. Meyer, Sbu.edu, RT: 11/20/2104

8. Scott Greenstien, Imdb.com, RT: 11/21/2014

9. Dara Altman, Newyorksocialdiary.com, RT: 11/21/2014

10. Patrick L. Donnelly, Pli.edu, RT: 11/21/2014

11. Sirius XM Financials, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/21/2014

12. Sirius XM Stock, Finance.yahoo.com, RT: 11/21/2014

13. Sirius XM Stock Google, Google.com, RT: 11/21/2014

14. Competitors, Fool.com, RT: 11/21/2014

15. Pandora Info, Pandora.com, RT: 11/21/2014

16. Apple Info, Apple.com, RT: 11/21/2014

17. Spotify Info, Support.spotify.com, RT: 11/22/2014

18. Apple In Car Display, Apple.com, RT: 11/22/2014

19. Merger Info, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/22/2014

20. Sirius Satellite & XM Picture, Topclassactions.com, RT: 11/22/2014

21. Satellite Info, Archive.fortune.com, RT: 11/22/2014

22. Where Sirius Started, Radiomagonline.com, RT: 11/22/2014

23. Sirius Mileage Coverage, Siriusxm.com/whatissiriusxm, RT: 11/22/2014

24. List of Vehicles Sirius is in, Siriusxm.com/internetradio, RT: 11/22/2014

25. Image of Vehicle List, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014

26. List of Devices, Siriusxm.com/internetradio, RT: 11/22/2014

27. Lawsuit, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014

28. Copyright Image, Bloggless.com, RT: 11/22/2014

29. Revenue, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014

30. Jim Meyer Quote, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/22/2014

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

Hearst Television

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Apollonia Maldonato

By Apollonia Maldonato

Photo courtesy of hearsttelevision.com

Hearst Television Inc.

300 W 57th St.

New York, NY, 10019 United States

(212) 887-6800

http://www.hearsttelevision.com

About Hearst Television Inc. [1]

Hearst Television Inc. is the broadcasting arena of the Hearst Corporation. It is comprised of 29 television stations and two radio stations. Its stations reach as many as 18% of households in the United States spanning over two dozen markets. It is one of the nation’s largest television groups. The company owns several ABC and NBC affiliate stations. They also have two radio stations in Baltimore as well as two CBS affiliate stations. Hearst Television leads the convergence of local broadcast television and the Internet through its partnership with Internet Broadcasting. The company started trading privately in 2009 after becoming privately owned by Hearst Corporation.

Key Executives:

David J. Barrett [2], Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hearst Television Inc. began working for Hearst Corporation in 1984 as the general manager of the company’s Baltimore radio stations. He was appointed CEO of the company in 2001. Barrett has received several awards in the industry including being inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2008 and being named Broadcasting & Cable magazine’s 2004 “Broadcaster of the Year.” Jordan Wertlieb [3], President of Hearst Television, began working for Hearst Corporation 1993 and was named the company’s president in December 2012. He also serves as the President- Chairman of the NBC Affiliate board.

Frank Biancuzzo [4], Senior Vice President of Hearst Television, began working for the company in 1995 when he served as the Vice President of Marketing and Promotion. He later became the President of the Hearst Television ABC station in Milwaukee from 2002 until 2007. He was appointed to be a Senior Vice President in 2007. He also has a role of Hearst Television Group Head.

John J. Drain [5], Senior Vice President of Finance, began working at Hearst in 2010 when he was appointed the Senior VP of Finance. Before working for Hearst Television, he was the Vice President of Finance and Administration for the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable Corporation, Comcast Spotlight.

Click for more information on important people at Hearst Television

Competition [6]

Some major industry competitors of Hearst Television are:

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.
Raycom Media Inc.
Local TV, LLC

Financials [7]

The last annual report available to the public was published in 2008. During this year the the company had earned $755,738 in revenue. In 2009, Hearst Corporation acquired Hearst- Argyle and it became Hearst Television, a wholly owned component of the company. Since the acquisition, it is no longer a publically traded company and its financial statements are unavailable. However, according to Crain’s New York Business, the company has earned a revenue of almost $10 billion, a $1 billion increase from its 2012 revenue which was slightly more than $9 billion. [8]

Brief History [9]

Photo courtesy of onedomain.com

Hearst Corporation was founded in 1928 when it entered the broadcasting world by acquiring WSOE Radio Milwaukee. Since its original acquisition, the company has bought out dozens of other TV and radio stations. Hearst merged with Argyle Television in 1997 to form Hearst- Argyle Television. The company was publicly traded, first on Nasdaq until 1998 and then transferred to the New York Stock Exchange where it was public until 2009 when the company became wholly owned by Hearst Corporation. The name was officially changed to Hearst Television.

Hearst Television’s Current Expenditures:

Hearst Television’s Upward Spiral

Photo courtesy of cronkiteaward.org

Although Hearst Television is not a commonly spoke of company, its role in political coverage through the years has made Hearst Television a staple in news broadcasting. A challenge for the entirety of Hearst Corporation is finding new businesses that can help define the future of Hearst. The company is currently spiraling upwards, and Hearst Corporation CEO, Steven Swartz and Hearst Television CEO, David Barrett, are striving to find new ways to keep the company heading in this direction. The company has won six consecutive Walter Cronkite Awards for its coverage of politics and is the media leader in political coverage. The Hearst Television group has been successful in local advertising as well as solid coverage of elections. [10]

Improving the TV Viewing Experience

An article published by TV Technology on November 7 stated that Hearst Television Inc has fully incorporated Matrix Solutions’s web-based media CRM and sales analytics solution into all of its TV stations. The complete implementation process took a total of ten weeks to complete. According to Al Lustgarten, vice president of IT for Hearst Television, “Hearst Television’s objective was to find a CRM solution with a partner that understands the broadcast business model and could provide software as a service model.” The Matrix system allows access by means of the web or mobile device. It normalizes data saving time in analyzing it. This is extremely useful at a corporate level. [11]

Hearst vs. Aereo: A Copyright Fight

Hearst Television appeared in federal last month in a plea to shut down the internet streaming website startup, Aereo. The federal court denied Hearst’s request and decision could lead to a supreme court case. The website is unlawfully using copyrighted content from WCVB, Hearst Television’s ABC affiliate Boston TV station, for profit. The law suit was originally filed by Hearst in July. The Judge had decided that the compnay did not make its case and the victory went to Aereo. However, other major broadcasters are fighting the same battle with Aereo’s, so-called, unconstitutional practices. [12]

A Visit to UNC Chapel Hill

Just last week, Hearst Televsion CEO, David Barrett and ABC News President, Ben Sherwood headlined at the Wade H. Hargrove Communications Law and Policy Colloquium at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The two men shared their own remarks on what they believed would be the “Future of Televsion News.” they then engaged in an open discussion with the audience. During his visit, Barrett shared a conversation with Dean Susan King of the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The two discussed disruptive media in today’s culture as well as the reputation Hearst strives to uphold in society. [13]

Conversation between David Barrett and Dean of UNC Chapel Hill School of Journalism

Support of New Technologies: Investment in Roku

Photo courtesy of amazon.com

Roku, an internet set-top box company, had earned $60 million in funding. One of the companies that invested in Roku was Hearst Television. The company sells softball size boxes that allow consumers to stream music and videos. Roku is currently collaborating with consumer-electronics to have merchandise with Roku readily installed.The Senior Managing Director at Hearst, Ken Bronfin, said in a statement about Roku’s product that Hearst is very impressed about the unique position that Roku has constructed in the media market and they anticipate working with them to develop other innovative services for television audiences. CEO of Roku is grateful for the recognition of his brand’s potential success in the market and belief in the Roku platform. Hearst’s, along with other companys’ generous funding was necessary for this product to potentially re-frame future television consumer experiences. [14]

Hearst Ahead of the Times: The Next Generation Newsroom

Hearst Television’s new project, The Next Generaton Newsroom, is giving reporters, photographers, and producers the latest technology so they can update news on all platforms. The state of the arc technology has changed the way the newsrooms operate. Although the consumers do notice the change, they expect it. Brian Bracco, Vice President of News at Hearst Television Inc. states that with all of the new platforms and methods of spreading news, there is no more exciting time than the present to be in the media business. [15]

Watch “The Next Generation Newsroom” Video

Conclusion

Over the years, Hearst Television has developed innovative ways to better the TV viewing experience. The company has earned a renowned reputation due to its outstanding coverage on politics. Hearst continues to strive to be one of the best television companies in this fast paced world.

Sources

[1] About Hearst Televsion

[2] David J. Barrett

[3] Jordan Wertlieb

[4] Frank Biancuzzo

[5] John J. Drain

[6] Competition

[7] Financial Information

[8] More Financials

[9] History of Hearst

[10] Hearst on a role

[11] Implementing Matrix Solutions