Cumulus

Posted on October 16, 2016 by kavincen

By: Kaitlyn Vincent and Cairo Spencer

Cumulus Logo

History

Cumulus was co-founded in 1997 by brothers Lew and John Dickey in Atlanta, Georgia. The company broadcasts local programming as well as sports, syndicated media, entertainment brands and much more. The company has 447 owned-and-operated stations in 90 different US markets. The two platforms of Cumulus includes Cumulus Radio and Westwood One which contribute to massive reach of 245 million listeners per week. [1]

Similarly, Cumulus is known for the station NASH, which launched in 2013 and is the Nation’s leading provider of country music. In addition to the NASH radio sector, NASH has a country weekly magazine, television, live events and their own record label. Cumulus is now the second largest radio company behind iHeartMedia. [2] [13]

Key Executives

Mary G. Berner – President and Chief Executive Officer

John Abbot – Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Richard S. Denning – Senior VP, Secretary & General Counselor

Affiliates

Cumulus Radio and Westwood One are both syndicated services of Cumulus Media. In 2013, Cumulus acquired Westwood One which focuses on selling syndicated advertisements. Together they have become the exclusive radio broadcast partner to some of the biggest brands in news, entertainment, sports and talk. This includes major sports such as NFL, the NCAA and the Olympics, major events such as the Academy of Country Music Awards, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and even the Grammys. Cumulus has risen to become the nation’s leading provider of country music and lifestyle entertainment through its renowned NASH brand; named for the country music center that is the Nashville, Tennessee brand. NASH caters to country music fans nationwide through the use of radio programming, exclusive digital content, and live events. Cumulus Radio serves a demographically-diverse group across its 90 US markets. [1]

Cumulus and Westwood One Stations

Management

Cumulus hired Mary Berner, a former CEO of Reader’s Digest Executive, as the new Chief Executive Officer to try and turnaround the company in 2015. Before Mary stepped in, Cumulus’ stocks were dropping tremendously. One of Cumulus’ major shareholders, Crestview Partners, pushed out the founder Lew Dickey as the CEO and replaced him with Mary Berner. Before the turnover, the shares had dropped 80% of their value whereas after the turnover the shares dropped 39% after a couple of months. [8] [13]

In the coming months Mary is striving towards a “multi-year exercise” starting with fixing the operational basics. Secondly, she’ll be working on retaining the employees and improving satisfaction within the company due to a 50% turnover rate in 18 months in the company of 6,000 people. Her final area of concern is the rating decline for the company. [5]

“This company has lost more than a dollar of revenue for every dollar of expense reduction over the past four years,” she said. “So I’m focused on intelligently managing the cost structure.” – Mary Berner [7]

Although Cumulus’ headquarters is in Atlanta, Mary Berner is stationed within New York City, within the large market in which its syndicated service Westwood One caters to. According to Mary, there are four challenging feats she is facing with Cumulus which includes inescapable clean-up items from prior years, non-existent investment in systems, annual cost escalation due to the dynamic industry, and major capital investments. [5]

The New Cumulus CEO, Mary Berner

Financial

Cumulus had a low third quarter with a $286.1 million in the quarter. This was down from the $289.4 million in 2015. The low numbers are due to CEO Mary Berner’s adjustment period, the falling rating decline, and the lack of company structure. Recently however, Cumulus is heading into the fourth quarter with a positive stride with a 35.58% increase over the past 5 days. The price target for the company is currently at $5.00. Consequently, the Wall Street analysts recommend a hold recommendation for investors. [5] [8]

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Cumulus Media Equity Stub 2016

Cumulus is consumed in $2.5 billion in debt ever since the former CEO, Dickey Berner bought up several stations and lost Citadel back in 2010. However, a spokesperson disclosed that enough generated operational cash and asset sales will prevent Cumulus from becoming bankrupt and expects to gain $200 million at the end of 2017 from real estate sales. Furthermore, “We have no plans to file for bankruptcy and the next maturity for debt is not for three more years until May of 2019, so we have significant runway to begin to stabilize and ultimately grow the business,” the Cumulus spokesman said. [16]

In terms of trends, as of November 28, the 14-day ADX for Cumulus Media is at 39.28 which indicates a strong trend for investors. However, this number reflects the trend strength but not the direction of the trend. In another technical reading, Cumulus presently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index of 31.93 which reflects the company’s normal oscillation since the reading is between -100 to +100. This represents how the Cumulus commodities are in a normal range between the overbought and oversold territory. These technical readings further reflect the positive direction for Cumulus entering into the fourth quarter. [6] [7] [12]

Recent Antitrust Lawsuit

Last April, Cumulus was sued for an antitrust suit by Talk Radio Network Enterprises LLC and three other Radio networks for allegedly conspiring with Westwood One, Cumulus’ advertising package bundler. This suit was filed in Oregon due to a group of radio producers claiming that Westwood One and Cumulus were trying to monopolize a national radio that solely benefits the Cumulus station while undermining independent programmers. By conspiring to monopolize, Cumulus Media and Westwood are violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. In addition, these companies are already thwarted due to Cumulus Media controlling 90% of the national syndicated ad bundling market. [9]

In a complex system of advertising bundling, the companies buying advertisements expect a certain amount of trust from Westwood One. These companies have been experiencing a lack of transparency of payment from Westwood. Similarly, Westwood has been accused of paying the companies lower than the deserved amount. However, this month the Oregon judges decided to gut the claim by rejecting half of the allegations based on prejudice. According to an attorney for the group of Radio Networks, they have no intent of stopping the suit. [10]

The Issue

While, Mary is working to solve the company’s problems, the main issue with the company is the large amount of debt it holds. This monetary debt is due to the former purchase of Citadel, a Nevada-based broadcasting holding company and the general decline in Radio revenue due to the amount of music streaming services online. Michael Harrison, a former radio station owner and publisher of RadioInfo agrees:

“Cumulus is suffering from the tail end effects of the era of consolidation… The biggest problem in the industry, he said, is “smothering debt,” – Michael Harrison [7]

Overview

The biggest question for Cumulus is how to combat the growing online streaming music services and the consolidation of radio amidst their staggering debt and turnover struggles. Cumulus must continue to cut spending and manage to find a solution that will boost revenue through services that can compete as opposed to services that tail behind the forefront of the changing world of radio. In terms of debt handling, the company has until May of 2019 to pay it off which should hopefully be enough time for Berner to stabilize the company.

Works Cited

[1] Cumulus Website. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[2] Jackson, Hazel. “Market Rating: Are Analysts Bullish Cumulus Media Inc (NASDAQ:CMLS) After Last Week?” Money Making Articles Hot Stuff. Retrieved: November 21, 2016.

[3] NASH Website. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[4] Cumulus Key Executives. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[5] “Big Challenges Remain For Radio’s Number Two.” Radio Ink. Streamline Publishing, Inc. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[6] Ho, Rodney. “Cumulus Media Drowning in Debt, Stock Slides.” Radio and TV Talk. Cox Media Group. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[7] Grantham, Russell. “Cumulus Media Hit by Debt, Radio Industry Troubles.” Cumulus Media Hit by Debt, Radio Industry Troubles. Cox Media Group. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[8] Karp, Hannah. “Cumulus CEO Aims to Revive Radio Broadcaster.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[9] Sege, Adam. “Cumulus Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Advertising Payouts.” Law360. Portfolio Media, Inc. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[10] Koenig, Bryan. “Cumulus Media Gets Advertising Antitrust Suit Gutted.” Law360. Portfolio Media Inc. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[11] Oliveira, Michael Wiggins De. “Cumulus Media: A Highly Speculative Equity Stub.” Seeking Alpha. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[12] Weakley, Vanessa. “Looking at the Gauges on Cumulus Media Inc. (CMLS).” Microcap. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[13] Atkinson, Claire. “Cumulus Media’s New CEO Can’t Stop Company Slide.” NYPost. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[14] “Struggling Cumulus Media Loses its CFO” American City Business Journal. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[15] “Organizational Leadership Changes at Cumulus Media” MusicRow. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[16] Grantham, Russell. “Radio Giant Cumulus Tumbles After Flying High”. Cox Media Group. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

Cumulus

Link

Sarah Rebetje, Kate Weyant, Eddie

Cumulus Logo – [1]

History

Cumulus Media is a radio broadcasting company with an audience reach of 245 million. Cumulus distributes its sports, news, talk, and entertainment content through its 447 stations that are owned-and-operated by the company. The company’s reach expands across 90 markets in the United States, including eight of the top ten markets in the country [1]. In a $260 million deal in December of 2013, Cumulus acquired Dial Global, Inc., and renamed it Westwood One. Westwood One now serves as a programming service, allowing Cumulus to deliver its content across multiple platforms [4].

Key Executives

Mary G. Berner, President and Chief Executive Officer [2]

John Abbot – Executive VP, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer [3]

Richard Denning – Senior VP, Secretary and General Council [5]

Westwood One

Westwood One is a national syndication company that was acquired by Cumulus Media in 2013. Originally known as Dial Global, the company functioned under CBS for over three decades and specialized in syndicated sports broadcasting. Currently, they cover sports such as football in the NFL, golf during The Masters, and broadcast Olympic coverage every two years for both the Winter and Summer games [4]. Westwood One is producing four Christmas from Nov 26th to December 1st 2016. Some of the featured acts will include Train, Neil Diamond and Rascal Flatts. Westwood One looks to create relevant content that pertains to the upcoming Holiday of Christmas [15].

NASH FM

NASH FM is a Cumulus-owned media brand and group of radio station broadcasting across the country. Named after the cultural center of country music, Nashville Tennessee, the NASH FM brand includes 36 different local radio stations that all broadcast on an FM frequency. This brand’s content is broadcasted through the the nation and covers genres from country to rock to hip-hop. It has over 300K followers on their official Twitter account, and often host shows with famous country singers as guests.

Pictured above is the winner of the NASH Next 2016 Contest, Todd O’Niell. Hosted by NASH FM, this contest seeks to find the best talent that might be the next big thing in country music [13].

As well as being a local station in Iowa, NASH FM also syndicates its shows on a national level under the guidance of Cumulus [7].

The Downfall

For Cumulus, 2015 was a year of tragedy. The company accumulated $2.5 billion in debt. The share price of Cumulus was worth spare change, dropping from its original price by almost 90 percent [8]. One reason this striking increase in debt occurred was because of the hit that the overall radio industry has taken from a significant decrease in listeners these past few years as online streaming content has become more popular. Just in 2016, the revenue of the industry has fallen flat [10]. Cumulus’ top competitor, iHeartmedia, even suffered from this online conversion with its share price dropping by 95 percent [8]. Cumulus has also still been struggling with paying off the debt it accumulated when it bought Citadel, taking on a debt count of $2.8 billion [9]. Cumulus also made the mistake of neglecting tp focus on local markets and caring only about its acquisition of Westwood One and Citadel. Cumulus’ risky business decisions have led the company to drown rather than thrive [8]. However, the new CEO of the Cumulus, Mary Berner, seems to have turned the company in a more positive direction [12].

Financials

In the past three years, Cumulus has seen a decline in sales revenue, a rise in sale expenses, and thus a decline in its net income.

Net income comparison between 3Q2015 and 3Q2016 [6]

In 2014, Cumulus’ net revenue was $1.26 billion, with a net income of $11.4 million. The following year, in 2015, their net revenue was $289.44 million with a net income loss of $542.18 million. This is in part due to the massive amount of debt that it has accumulated ($2.5 billion). In 2016, Cumulus announced at the end of the Third Quarter that its net revenue so far for the year is $286.14 million, which is 1.1% down from 2015. The company also reported that 2016’s net income is $32.96 million, which is up from a net income loss of $541 million. 895 million in the first three-quarters of 2015, $14.4 million of its expenses were spent on a legal dispute with CBS over syndicated content.

President Mary Berner expressed the failures of previous years and the somewhat hopeful future of the company by stating that Cumulus, “gained share for the first time in at least four years (in 2016)” [6].

Future

As the newest CEO, Mary Berner is leading a key initiative to turn around the company. Berner has an extensive resume, including her position as CEO at Reader’s Digest Association, Fairchild Publications, and Association of Magazine Media [12]. Berner has experience with companies in trouble, helping Reader’s Digest at a time when it was undergoing reorganization due to bankruptcy [8]. With her expert background in managing large companies, Berner has immediately taken on the challenge of addressing key issues of decreased focus on national syndication, and increased focus on employee satisfaction and local affiliates [12].

In order to combat a large amount of debt that has been accumulated by the company, Cumulus plans to create a more open dialogue with its stakeholders. This way, Cumulus can come up with strategies aimed at reducing the debt, because attempts in previous years have not worked. Cumulus also stated that it will review all possible options in order to its maximize its efficiency on both a corporate, national and local level.

Cumulus has announced that the company will undergo a restructuring of its organization. It will shift the control of the company into the hands of its localized affiliates and work from a “bottoms-up” approach by strengthening its foundation. Cumulus believes that this approach will increase ratings as well as improve the operation of the company.

Employee Turnover over the course of 2015 and 2016 [14].

With prior negative feedback from employees about the culture of Cumulus, the company looks to initiate a better work environment [12]. Communications will be enhanced through a “top-down” process, where Berner stated that she will answer any employee’s email within 48 hours. Policies about vacation and leave will be reevaluated so that employees will receive improved benefits. Though the merit system has not been manipulated for the past ten years, Cumulus declared that the system will be increased to promote motivation and work efficiency. This initiative has reflected positively among employees. As shown in the above graph, turnover significantly decreased between 2015 and 2016, where voluntary sales turnover experience the most impact, where turnover was reduced from 42% to 27% from April of 2015 to April of 2016 [14].

Cumulus has also started to improve its sales execution in hopes of decreasing its debt. The company aims to incorporate new sales strategies both on a national and a local level. Cumulus also stated that it will extend measurements of sales productivity in order to gather more research about what works and what does not work. That way it can tackle issues and create more productivity in the future. Cumulus is also trying to improve both its marketing tactics, and improve the training given to new employees.

As Cumulus strives to create a more optimal working environment with increased employee satisfaction, the future looks brighter than it did before Mary Berner stepped up as CEO. With the restructuring of management, as well as the focus on local markets over national syndication, Cumulus has taken the necessary steps in order to stay afloat. Although the company still needs to address the debt situation, Cumulus continues to make strides towards increasing revenue and slowly paying the debt off [11].

Sources

[1] Cumulus. Retrieved: 22 November 2016. http://www.cumulus.com/

[2] Mary G. Geber. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: 22 November 2016. http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/mary-g-berner.html

[3] John Abbot. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: 22 November 2016. http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/john-abbot.html

[4] Cumulus Completes Previously Announced Acquisition of Westwood One. Global News Wire. Retrieved: 22 November 2016. https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2013/12/12/596613/10061374/en/Cumulus-Completes-Previously-Announced-Acquisition-of-WestwoodOne-f-k-a-Dial-Global-Inc.html

[5] Richard Denning. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: 22 November 2016. http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/richard-s-denning.html

[6] Cumulus Reports Operating Results for Third Quarter 2016. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: 27 November 2016. http://www.cumulus.com/PR/CMLS_09_30_2016_Earnings_Release.pdf

[7] NASH FM 94.7. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: November 28 2016. http://www.nashfm947.com

[8] Radio giant Cumulus tumbles after flying high. Grantham, Russell. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved: 24 November 2016. http://www.myajc.com/news/business/radio-giant-cumulus-tumbles-after-flying-high/npx9H/

[9] Cumulus Media drowning in debt, stock slides. Ho, Rodney. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved: 25 November 2016. http://radiotvtalk.blog.ajc.com/2016/01/10/cumulus-media-drowning-in-debt-stock-slides/

[10] Will 2017 Be Better For Radio? Radio Ink. Retrieved: November 27 2016. http://radioink.com/2016/11/18/will-2017-better-radio/

[11] 2016 First Quarter Earnings Call Presentation. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: November 25 2016. https://www.cumulus.com/PR/CMLS_1Q_2016_Earnings_Release_Presentation-050616.pdf

[12] (9-19-2016) The Cumulus Turnaround. Radio Ink. Retrieved: November 27 2016. http://radioink.com/2016/10/21/the-cumulus-turnaround/

[13] And the Winner is: Country Singer Todd O’Neill Wins NASH Next 2016 Challenge including Cumulus Radio Airplay Across the U.S. and Big Machine Label Group Recording Contract. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: 28 November 2016. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/and-the-winner-is-country-singer-todd-oneill-wins-nash-next-2016-challenge-including-cumulus-radio-airplay-across-the-us-and-big-machine-label-group-recording-contract-300351675.html

[14] 2016 First Quarter Earnings Call Presentation. Cumulus Media. Retrieved: November 25 2016. https://www.cumulus.com/PR/CMLS_1Q_2016_Earnings_Release_Presentation-050616.pdf

[15] Westwood One Making Christmas Special. Radio Ink. Retrieved: November 28 2016. http://radioink.com/2016/11/18/westwood-one-making-christmas-special/

YouTube

Link

Emma Lux

Source: YouTube, YouTube logo [1]

HISTORY

YouTube is a video streaming company that was launched in May of 2005 [2]. The company is a website that allows people all around the world to watch and share videos. They have sports videos, music videos, gaming videos, live streaming, and so much more [3]. YouTube has been utilized by individuals and by large companies as a platform to distribute content. YouTube currently has more than 1 billion users and 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Until recently, YouTube made a majority of its money through advertising before and during the videos on the site. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars [4]. Under the deal, YouTube was able to remain an independently operated entity and a separate brand. The original founders of YouTube were Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim who were all early employees of PayPal [2]. The current CEO of YouTube is Susan Wojcicki, but Chad Hurley, one of the original founders, still serves as an advisor [5]. YouTube has opened up channels of communication and allowed for an easier way to distribute media more directly to the public.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Source: Susan Wojcicki Twitter, Susan Wojcicki – CEO, YouTube [6]

Source: Robert Kyncl Twitter, Robert Kyncl – Chief Business Officer, YouTube [7]

Source: Politic365, Chad Hurley – Founder and Advisor, YouTube [8]

FINANCIALS

Source: Behance, Google Logo 2015 [11]

As a company, YouTube’s financials have been protected by their parent company, Google. There has been wide speculation about whether YouTube actually makes a profit. In 2014 an anonymous Wall Street Journal source reported YouTube’s revenue for the year at roughly $4 billion and profit at break even [9]. YouTube was a large investment for Google. It has been estimated that it won’t be long before YouTube makes up to 10% of Google’s total revenues [10]. During Google’s Q2 2015 conference call, the new CFO, Ruth Porat, was evasive regarding questions to clarify YouTube’s financials. Porat did not share YouTube’s financials because she felt it could put the company at a competitive disadvantage. Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, believes that Google is now in the stages of refining and preparing YouTube’s financial performance so when they do finally reveal those numbers, Wall Street will be pleasantly surprised [9].

YOUTUBE RED

Source: The Wrap, YouTube Red Logo [13]

On October 28th, 2015 YouTube launched its long-discussed paid subscription service, YouTube Red. The service will cost $9.99 a month and have ad-free versions of YouTube videos. There has been speculation about a service like this coming for a long time because of the financial issues that YouTube is faced with. YouTube has all the factors for success, but reportedly only breaks even with their revenue. This new service will allow subscribers of YouTube Red to save YouTube videos for offline play, listen to videos in the background while browsing other mobile apps and watch all YouTube videos without ads. YouTube stars like PewDiePie, Lilly Singh and the Fine Brothers will be creating videos that are exclusive to this new program. Music is also a large component of YouTube Red.

Source: Connect Socialyte, Collage of YouTube’s Top Creators [14]

The service will be providing access to Google Play Music and a new app called YouTube Music, which offers a personalized playlist based on a starting song or artist, this style is very similar to Pandora. YouTube Red is charging prices very similar to potential competitors like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu [12]. YouTube also announced that they would be shutting down their Music Key beta, just a year after launching. Music Key was YouTube’s first attempt at a subscription service and offered users full album streams and offline listening for $7.99 a month. The service also included access to Google Play Music. Music Key was not successful, and never made its way out of beta. YouTube Red is the company’s second attempt to overcome the issues that were evident in Music Key’s model and break through any streaming service barriers [15].

Source: TechCrunch, ESPN Pulling Videos From YouTube due to Red [16]

YouTube Red contains a large amount of promise to fix YouTube’s financial woes, but there has been controversy over how YouTube has gotten creators to agree to be a part of the service. YouTube has stated that 99% of creators have signed on with the Red deal but has also been accused of giving creators no choice, either getting on board with the service or having their videos removed from the site. ESPN has had the most public battle with YouTube over the service. With rights issues surrounding their content, ESPN had to pull almost all of their videos from YouTube. Eleven of ESPN’s thirteen YouTube Channels were impacted and had their content pulled from the site [16].

YOUTUBE’S MOMENTUM & FUTURE

Even with the issues facing YouTube and the fallout coming from YouTube Red, the company’s future seems bright. YouTube now reaches more 18-49 year olds than any

Source: BN1 Magazine, Vevo Logo 2015 [18]

single U.S. cable network and the average YouTube mobile session is 40 minutes. The number of hours people spend watching videos is also up 60%, which the fastest growth YouTube has experienced in 2 years [17]. Ever since YouTube officially became “mainstream” in 2009 with Congress and The Vatican launching their respective YouTube channels, the momentum in pop culture has only increased. YouTube launched Vevo, a music video channel, then announced that movies could be rented from YouTube starting in January 2010. As YouTube gained notoriety projects were launched on the site such as the It Gets Better project and Kony 2012. YouTube has pushed the importance of

Source: It Gets Better Project, It Gets Better Project Logo [19]

original content and been revolutionary in the likes of live-streaming. YouTube was the first company to show a live-stream of the 2012 Olympics. YouTube has pushed the boundaries and the strides can only point to a successful future [2]. YouTube has big plans to stay ahead of everyone else in the field, and to turn their large audience numbers into real, tangible profit i.e. YouTube Red. One of YouTube’s other big projects for the future is to provide YouTube access to anyone, anywhere. No matter what kind of connection, they want YouTube and its content to be streamed everywhere. YouTube has worked very hard to improve their tech. To continue improving it, YouTube has built new codecs, participated in developing new versions of HTML, and

Source: Buzzfeed, YouTube Rainbow Logo Celebrating Marriage Equality [20]

worked narrowly and closely with internet providers to make sure people are getting the best picture possible. These upgrades will never stop for YouTube, because this is what it takes to stay ahead and that has always been one of their biggest priorities. One of YouTube’s other resolutions as it moves to the future is a greater focus on “creators” rather than the one hit viral wonders that helped give YouTube its notoriety. These creators have built large fan bases and are in large part to thank for the increased viewership and subscriptions which is what is making YouTube so successful. These creators are also crucial to make sure that YouTube Red is successful, exclusive content on the service from these creators will only draw more fans to pay for the service [21].

SOURCES

[1] YouTube Logo. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[2] Dickey, Megan. (February 15th, 2013). The 22 Key Turning Points In The History Of YouTube. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[3] YouTube Channels. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[4] La Monica, Paul. (October 9th 2006). Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion. CNN Money. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[5] Kioskea. (October 29th 2010). Hurley stepping down as YouTube chief executive. CCM. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[6] Susan Wojcicki. Twitter. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[7] Robert Kyncl. Twitter. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[8] Barnette, E.R. (2015). Chad Hurley. Politic365. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[9] Oreskovic, Alexei. (July 16th 2015). How much money does YouTube make? Don’t ask the new CFO. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[10] Brugger, Tim. (September 9th 2014). Alright Google, Inc, What’s YouTube Really Worth? The Motley Fool. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[11] Google Logo. Google. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[12] Luckerson, Victor. (October 21st 2015). You Can Now Pay to Watch YouTube Without Ads. Time. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[13] YouTube Red Logo. The Wrap. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[14] YouTube Creator Collage. Connect Socialyte. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[15] Connolly, Amanda. (October 24th 2015). YouTube’s Music Key beta will end next month, leaving non-US users in the lurch. The Next Web. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[16] Perez, Sarah. (October 23rd 2015). YouTube Red Deal Forces ESPN To Pull Its Videos From YouTube. TechCrunch. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[17] YouTube Statistics. YouTube. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[18] Vevo Logo. BN1 Magazine. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[19] It Gets Better Project Logo. It Gets Better. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[20] YouTube Rainbow Logo. BuzzFeed. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[21] Pierce, David. (May 12th 2015). YouTube’s Plans for 10 More Years of Video Domination. Wired. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

Comcast – NBC Universal

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Angela Saggiomo

By Angela Saggiomo

30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
212-664-4444
www.nbcuni.com

Key Executives [1]

-courtesy of nbcuni.com

Stephen Burke
CEO, NBCUniversal

-courtesy of stopthecap.com

Brian Roberts
Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation

-courtesy of nbcuni.com

Stuart Epstein
Executive VP and CFO, NBCUniversal

-courtesy of nbcuni.com

Robert Greenblatt
Chairman, NBC Entertainment

About the Company [2]

This picture provides a detailed list of holdings under the NBCU umbrella for each platform. (courtesy of williamsager.com)

NBCUniversal is a major American media company that owns and operates content across multiple platforms. NBCU distributes content through broadcast and cable television, film, and digital media. The company is owned by the Philadelphia based Comcast Corporation.

History [3]

-courtesy of toobtalk.com

In 2004 NBC and Universal merged to form NBCUniversal, a company jointly owed by General Electric and Vivendi. In 2009 the Comcast Corporation announced intentions of acquiring NBCU and the venture was completed in January of 2011 when Comcast became majority stockholders. In 2013 Comcast gained full ownership of the media conglomerate after purchasing GE’s minority stake for $16.7 billion.

Financials* [4]

NBCUniversal had a very successful third quarter in 2013. Overall revenue increased 3.9% to $5.9 billion. For the cable networks revenue is up 4% to over $2 billion, increasing 5.4% and 4.6% in distribution and advertising respectively. Broadcast also saw an increase in revenue, up 2.6% due to an increase in retransmission fees. This is an important increase because it is a fairly new revenue stream for the company.

*all financials are compared to third quarter results of 2012 excluding extra revenue generated by the 2012 Olympics which were broadcast by NBCUniversal during that period

In the News

The Esquire Network

-courtesy of g4tv.com

In early 2013 NBCUniversal announced plans to launch the Esquire Network on the low performing G4 [6]. However after examining network brands, and with less than a month before its unveiling, it was announced that it would instead replace the female skewing Style Network. With channels like Bravo, E! and Oxygen which tend to perform better with females, NBCU saw the launch of this network as a chance to appeal to a more male audience.

Since its debut in late September, Esquire has premiered original programming as well as aired rebroadcasts of NBC favorites such as Parks and Recreation and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The new network appeals to a male audience but differs greatly from its direct competition Spike and FX. The target audience is of the more sophisticated male population with many new shows about travel and cooking [7]. Esquire joins the ranks of NBCUniversal owned networks that are programmed around a very distinct brand, allowing them to better target specific audiences for advertisers.

Welcome to the Family! [5]

-courtesy of kidscreen.com

On November 13^th Comcast NBCUniversal announced the acquisition of the popular children’s cable network PBS Kids Sprout. NBCU already owned 40 percent of the network, buying the rest from PBS and HIT Television Ventures. The company first acquired management of the children’s network in 2011 during the merge with the Comcast Corporation.

The new ownership signals a significant change for the network, which will drop PBS from its title. NBCU plans to create much more original programming and mobile content for the network in order to better compete with rival networks such as Nick Jr. and Disney Jr. Overall NBCU has had trouble keeping up with social media content and this acquisition shows a step towards increasing their presence online [12]. By creating original shows for the network NBCU will own all rights and therefore be able to create much more digital content at a much lower cost.

On the heels of this announcement NBCUniversal also revealed that they would be shutting down KidsCo in early 2014. The network, co-owned by Corus Entertainment, could not find footing among the wide variety of children’s programing available in today’s market. Rather than splitting original children’s programming across multiple networks NBCU has decided to focus on one channel, allowing them to better distribute the content across multiple platforms. [8]

Ad Sales Overhaul

-courtesy of bloomberg.com

Following a successful season in upfront ad sales NBCUniversal has decided to revamp its Advertisement Sales Department [10]. Previously, the company would sell ad inventory on a single network. Rather, they plan to sell ad time based on “demographic and thematic lines” [9]. This way ad reps can offer sponsors distinct audience groups for a more targeted sales approach. Because NBCUniversal has so many cable channels with such defined brands they can use this new sales structure to capitalize on this strength.

Networks will be split into two major groups: mass-entertainment programming and lifestyle cable channels. The mass-entertainment channels will include NBC, USA and Syfy while the lifestyle group includes networks like E!, Bravo and Esquire [11]. The department also saw a great amount of layoffs as a result of the restructuring because many of the channels are being packaged together for ad sales.

On the Horizon

2014 Winter Olympics

-courtesy of www.mcwade.com

NBCUniversal will air the 2014 Winter Games this February, which will take place in Sochi, Russia. NBCU has been a long time broadcaster of the Olympic games, a deal that has proven very lucrative for the company in the past. Comcast NBCUniversal made a deal to pay $4.38 billion for the exclusive rights to the next four Olympic games. The deal also stated that NBCUniversal would air all the events live for the first time. This is a decision made after the results of the events at the 2012 London Summer Olympics were revealed through social media prior to their primetime broadcast [14].

This year’s winter games will involve six new events: the ski halfpipe, women’s ski jumping, biathlon mixed relay, a figure skating team event, and luge team relays [15]. However, the games have already received a great deal of bad press as a result of strict anti-gay laws put in place by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The politician enacted a national law that bans all homosexual activity and even support [16]. While the International Olympic Committee has ensured that this will not affect the games, many have chosen to boycott the events. It is still unclear as to how this will affect the NBCUniversal coverage of the games.

To Infinity and Beyond [13]

-courtesy of chatter-fest.com

NBCUniversal has made a deal with Virgin Galactic to broadcast the eccentric billionaire Richard Branson’s first commercial flight to space. Multiple networks within the NBCUniversal family will cover the flight, which takes off next year. It will begin with a primetime special of the take off followed by interviews conducted next day on the Today Show.

This deal signals a “continued push for live event programming from entertainment channels and news organizations,” an idea that was previously unpopular because of its lack of rebroadcast opportunity[13]. However with the emergence of new media, live broadcast such as this can be very lucrative because it can air across multiple platforms at the same time. This allows companies like NBCU to maximize their reach for a single broadcast.

Sources

[1] – List of Executives – NBCUniversal

[2] – About NBCUniversal – NBCUniversal

[3] – History of NBCUniversal – NBCUniversal

[4] – NBCUniversal Financials – Comcast Corporation

[5] – NBCUniversal Acquisition of Sprout – NYTimes

[6] – Esquire Network Takes over Style – The Hollywood Reporter

[7] – Review of Esquire Network – slate.com

[8] – KidsCo Shutting Down – The Hollywood Reporter

[9] – NBCU Ad Sales Revamp – Variety

[10] – NBCU Upfront Success – Variety

[11] – NBCU Layoffs – Variety

[12] – NBCU Social Media Footprint – Forbes

[13] – NBCU to Air First Virgin Space Flight – Capital New York

[14] – NBCU Olympic Deal – NYTimes

[15] – Six New Olympic Games – NBC Bay Area

[16] – Olympic Boycott – PRNewser

NBC Universal

Gallery

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Julia Bodner

This gallery contains 10 photos.

by Julia Bodner [1] About NBC Universal is one of the four major broadcast networks and a major picture studio. It includes many news and entertainment networks—local affiliated NBC stations and Telemundo network and local affiliates, a motion picture production … Continue reading →