Tag Archives: Sundance TV

AMC Networks Inc.

Posted on by 
by Hsin-Tzu (Teresa) Lin

ABOUT AMC NETWORKS INC. :

AMC Networks Inc. Logo

[1] AMC Networks Inc. Logo

Founded in 1980 (formally known as Rainbow Media Holdings LLC), AMC Networks Inc. [2] is an American Entertainment company currently standing as the one of the leading cable television broadcasters in the United States. AMC Networks owns and operates various popular channels within the cable television realm: AMC, The Independent Film Channel (IFC), Sundance TV, Women’s Entertainment TV (WE tv), and IFC Films [3]. The company also acquired Chellomedia in 2013 and through a joint venture with BBC Worldwide, now operates BBC America as well [3]. With an impressive programming portfolio, the cable network has aired many critical and popular series such as “Breaking Bad”, “Walking Dead”, and “Mad Men”, reaching more than 95 million households across the country [4].

HEADQUARTERS ADDRESS:

11 Penn Plaza,

New York, NY 10001,

United States

EXECUTIVES:

[5]

FINANCIALS AND STRATEGIES:

AMC Networks Inc. is a publicly traded company with a stock price of $77.27 as of April 16th 2015 [3]. In its fourth quarter reports of 2014, AMC Networks exceeded expert estimates with the reported $1.15 earnings per share, vastly beating the prediction of $0.99 [6]. Its fourth quarter also showed promising numbers as the company’s revenue increased 40%[7] to $609.44 million [8], and also revealed a 24.3% jump in advertising revenues [7] to $255 million [9]. The company continues to expect the advertising sector to be the “growth driver” of the year. AMC Networks’ First Quarter 2015 report will be released May 4th [10].

[17] Chellomedia’s Logo

It has been a fruitful and successful season for AMC Networks. With its strategic acquisition of Chellomedia[17] and partnership with BBC Worldwide, AMC Networks has greatly boosted its international revenue by 516% to $110.3 million [11], helping the company exceed estimated Q4 earnings. The company also seeks further development through striking a deal with Dish Network Corporation: to include AMC’s “Walking Dead” and “Mad Men” in Sling TV, its newly launched online video streaming service [12].

 

SPRING 2015 – THE SEASON OF NEW SERIES SPINOFFS:

AMC has carried numerous programs throughout its 30 years of existence. Amongst its most popular and successful are “Breaking Bad”, “Walking Dead”, and “Mad Men”. The former two of these series have sprung a spinoff off their original plot-lines, in hopes to further continue the series’ monumental success and keep their fan-base after losing “Breaking Bad” after the series has aired [26].

♦Breaking Bad and its spinoff “Better Call Saul”♦

Game changer underdog series “Breaking Bad” has finished its run, ending with 10.3 million viewers and a 5.2 rating within the adults the 18-49 demographic[13]. From its previous season (premiered in 2013), Walter White and Jesse Pinkman have brought in an astonishing 442% increase in viewership within just two years[13]. With this kind of result, AMC released a trial prequel spinoff series “Better Call Saul” earlier this year to extend the popular series further. “Saul” wrapped its first season with amazing results, raking in $2.53 million viewers overall, and very positive reviews (Click here to read why people think “Saul” might just be better than “Breaking Bad”). AMC Networks turned their best assets into best revenue generators, working to increase consumption of their most popular series even after it is gone.

♦“The Walking Dead” and its spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead”♦

One of AMC’s most popular cable television shows, “The Walking Dead”, delivered stellar numbers on its season finale. The Season 5 finale episode drew in an averaged rating of 8.2 within the adults 18-49 demographic[16] (and gathering 15.8 million viewers overall)[14]. This has been the highest rated season of “The Walking Dead” in this television season. Seeing the previous spinoff “Better Call Saul’s” success, “The Walking Dead” creator, Robert Kirkman, green-lighted another series spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead” to air in Summer 2015. The six-episode prequel mini-series[15] has already created significant anticipation within the “The Walking Dead” fan base, keeping the audience in the loop as they wait for Season 6 of “The Walking Dead” premiering in October[15].

[18] [19]

This tactic of releasing spinoffs in order to maintain and possibly increase their audience base is currently working extremely well for AMC Networks Inc. “Better Call Saul” ended its first season strongly, and “Fear the Walking Dead” has generated great potential for its release in the summer. The success of “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad” has been extremely beneficial to the company and creating a prequel/spinoff to the original series was a wise direction to lead to.

 

OTHER PROGRAM NEWS

AMC Networks also houses the growingly popular series “Orphan Black”, and the critically acclaimed, award winning “Mad Men”.

Orphan Black Season 2 Cast

[21] Orphan Black Season 2 Cast

Just recently, Season 3 of “Orphan Black” ran across all 5 network channels of AMC Networks (AMC, SundanceTV, IFC, We TV, and BBC America) as a way to boost the series’ audience reach. AMC Networks COO Edward A. Carroll quotes…

“AMC Networks is a channel group known for high-quality storytelling and creating a premiere television event for ‘Orphan Black’ is a perfect opportunity to use our programming assets to help extend the reach of this quality series.” 

[20]

[22] Mad Men in AMC Networks is not doing as well as it should

[22] Mad Men in AMC Networks is not doing as well as it should

Although considered as one of the best dramas in cable, “Mad Men” does not pull as much of an audience as it should [23]. Unfortunately, “Mad Men” was ranked #21 amongst other cable dramas last year [23]. Despite this, AMC Networks announced that the ad spaces on “Mad Men’s” season finale on May 17th have been completely sold out [24], still indicating the affluence and importance of the show.

 

WHAT IS NEXT? 

As AMC Networks Inc. develops, CEO Josh Sapan quotes that international expansion “continues to be a focus” and allowing AMC Networks to “capitalize long term on international pay TV growth and drive long-term value for our shareholders.” [11] With the acquisition of Chellomedia and BBC America, AMC is now transitioning towards a more global distribution to show it’s content. AMC now is available in 120 countries as well as the Sundance Channel in 70 countries [25].

AMC Networks Inc. has a bright future ahead of its path. Not only is the company busy with its national expansion with series spinoffs, but it is also seeking to expand globally to distribute its contents to the world.  Global distribution would only propel AMC Networks’ development forwards and bring the company to the next level of the cable television realm.

 

SOURCES – 

[1] AMC Network Inc. Logo. Logosandbrands.com, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[2] AMC Network Inc. Website. Amcnetwork.com, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[3] AMC Network Company Profile. Yahoo Finance, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[4] AMC Network Company Information. Hoovers, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[5] AMC Network Executives. Amcnetwork.com, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[6] “AMC Networks Now Covered by Piper Jaffray (AMCX). Dakota Financial News, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[7] “AMC Networks’ Walking Dead Finale Sees Record Closing”. Zacks.com, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[8] “AMC Networks Receives “Hold” Rating from Evercore Partners Inc. (AMCX)”. Mideasttime.com, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[9] “AMC Networks Ad Revenue Jumps on Demand for Original Programming”. Wall Street Journal, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[10] “AMC Networks to Report First Quarter 2015 Results”. Yahoo Finance, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[11] “AMC Networks International Operations Help It To Beat Q4 Earnings Expectations”. Deadline.com, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[12] “Dish Network Rolls Out Sling TV, Reaches Deal With AMC”. Wall Street Journal, Retrieved April 14th 2015.

[13] “‘Breaking Bad’ series finale ratings smash all records”. Entertainment Weekly, Retrieved April 16th 2015.

[14] “‘The Walking Dead’ Season 5 Finale is Highest Rated Finale in Series History, Garnering 15.8 Million Viewers”. TVByTheNumbers.com, Retrieved April 16th 2015.

[15] “Here’s the First Teaser for The Walking Dead Spin-Off”. Vanity Fair, Retrieved April 16th 2015.

[16] “AMC’s ‘Walking Dead’ Draws Record Finale Ratings”. Variety.com, Retrieved April 16th 2015.

[17] Chellomedia’s Logo. Chellomediapaytv.com, Retrieved April 16th 2015.

[18] Better Call Saul Photo. Amcnetworks.com, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[19] Fear the Walking Dead Photo. fansided.com, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[20] “‘Orphan Black’ Season Premiere to Air Across All AMC Networks Channels”. Variety.com, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[21] Orphan Black Season 2 Cast photo. TVLine.com, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[22] Mad Men Cast Photo. pop-break.com, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[23] “‘Mad Men’ brings prestige, if not powerful ratings, to AMC”. CNN Money, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[24] “AMC sells out advertising space for the ‘Mad Men’ series finale”. CNN Money, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[25] “Investors Better Call AMC Networks, Company Is Far From Walking Dead”. Seeking Alpha, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

[26] “‘Better Call Saul’: More AMC spin-offs to join ‘Breaking Bad’ prequel” Entertainment Weekly, Retrieved April 17th 2015.

 

AMC Networks

Posted on by 
by Meg Zukin

AMC Networks

amc_network_logo_render

photo courtesy of under consideration.com [i]

Contact Information[ii]—

11 Penn Plaza

New York, NY 10001

Main phone: 212-324-8500

http://www.amcnetworks.com

About—

AMC Networks is an American entertainment company which owns and operates AMC, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV, WE, IFC Films, and AMC Networks International. Initially, AMC was known as Rainbow Media Holdings and until 2011, was a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems. In 2011, Cablevision made Rainbow Media Holdings a publicly traded company and changed its name to AMC Networks [iii].

AMC has recently gained momentum through television shows like The Walking Dead, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, on its cable channel, AMC [iv]. IFC Films and its affiliate channel, IFC, are responsible for indie films like Boyhood [v] and quirky television comedies like Portlandia [vi]. Recently, the company acquired a 49.9% stake in BBC through a joint venture that cost $200 million [vii].

Key Executives—

Charles Dolan, Executive Chairman AMC Networks

Charles Dolan, Executive Chairman AMC Networks

leader_sapan

Josh Sapan, President and CEO of AMC Networks

Charlie Collier, President and General Manager of amc

Charlie Collier, President and General Manager of amc

Jennifer Caserta, President and General Manager of IFC

Jennifer Caserta, President and General Manager of IFC

Sarah Barnett, President and General Manager of SundanceTV

Sarah Barnett, President and General Manager of BBC America and SundanceTV

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects and IFC Films

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects and IFC Films

Marc Juris, President and General Manager of WE tv

Marc Juris, President and General Manager of WE tv

Pictures and titles courtesy of http://www.amcnetworks.com/about-us/leadership [viii]

Financials—

AMC Networks just reported its third quarter earnings. Net revenues increased a whopping 31.4% to $520 million [ix]. International revenue reached $122.7 million, up 765% from last year. This could be attributed to acquisitions of both BBC and Chellomedia, a deal AMC made in February which gave them a stack of networks in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia [x]. The company also reported earnings of $53.2 million, or 74 cents a share. Analysts estimated that AMC Networks would come in at 73 cents a share and thus, they surpassed projections [xi].

According to the third quarter report, AMC Networks is currently working with a $110 million operating income [xii].

When the market closed on December 1, 2014, AMCX was down 1.34% at $63.99 per share. The company hit a low-point in mid-October at $52.75 per share and was at its highest in March at $77.40 per share. Looking at the past 3 years (when AMCX became a publicly traded company), we see exponential growth overall.

Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 12.44.19 PM

photo courtesy of Google Finance [xxx]

What’s Happening Now?—

Sarah Barnett Named President and General Manager, BBC America

AMC Networks announced last week (November 21, 2014) that current SundanceTV chief, Sarah Barnett, would be moving up to President and General Manager of BBC America [xiii]. Barnett began her career at BBC in production before she spent a decade at SundanceTV. She will start her new position in January, surveying over both SundanceTV and BBC America until AMC taps someone else to oversee SundanceTV. The current General Manager at BBC, Perry Simon, who was on the team behind Orphan Black, is moving to production with BBC Worldwide North America [xv].

Barnett certainly has the chops for an upgrade in position. Under her reign, she established Sundance as an original programming network with shows like Rectify, Top of the Lake, and The Honourable Woman [xvi] With this new position she will continue to report to Ed Carroll, Chief Operating Officer of AMC Networks.

AMC Announces Two-Night Premiere for Spin-Off Series “Better Call Saul”

AMC’s next new drama series, Better Call Saul, will debut on Sunday, February 8 with its second episode debuting the next night, Monday, February 9 [xvii]. The series follows Breaking Bad character Saul Goodman, prior to him becoming Walter White’s lawyer lawyer.

video courtesy of AMC Networks on Youtube [xviii]

The back-to-back premiere is “AMC’s first ever two-night series premiere event” according to Charlie Collier [xix]. Season one is slated for 10 episodes and Talking Dead will air before it, a solid segue for high-ratings for both shows. Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan co-created the spin-off with writer-director Peter Gould [xx].

AMC Networks and BBC Worldwide Enter Partnership 

In October, AMC Networks bought a 49.9% stake in the BBC America cable channel. They paid $200 million to BBC Worldwide and the marriage between the two companies leaves BBC with a 50.1% stake in BBC America [xxi]. BBC America is available in almost 80 million homes domestically and was the most critically acclaimed channel on ad-supported television in 2013 [xxii].

BBC America will be managed as a standalone channel within AMC, much like how AMC, WE tv, and SundanceTV are operated. Even though BBC still has a grander stake in its American counterpart, AMC Networks will maintain operational control over the company, as well as affiliate and advertising sales [xxiii].

This agreement occurred almost exactly on the one-year anniversary of AMC’s $1 billion acquisition of Liberty Global’s international network, Chellomedia. That acquisition led to AMC Networks International which is available in 140 countries [xxiv].

AMC Networks/IFC Films Acquires Rights to “October Gale”

IFC Films bought the American rights to writer-director Ruba Nadda‘s thriller, October Gale, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. IFC Films also released another film by Nadda, Cairo Time. The film stars Patricia Clarkson, Tim Roth, and Scott Speedman. Clarkson plays a doctor who takes in a skeptical man when he floats ashore at her secluded cabin with a gunshot wound [xxv]. Myriad Pictures is handling worldwide sales.

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein Return to Portlandia

Portlandia will return to IFC for its ten-episode fifth season in January. This season will showcase a laundry list of cameos including Vanessa Bayer, Steve Buscemi, Peter Giles, Justin Long, Shepard Fairey, Jane Lynch, and Olivia Wilde, amongst others [xxvi].

video courtesy of IFC Youtube

Viewers will be able to recap previous seasons on New Year’s Day when IFC will air a marathon but seasons 1 through 4 are also available on Netflix and iTunes [xxvii].

IFC Orders New Comedy Series: “Gigi’s Bucket List”

IFC has ordered a series starring David Krumholtz as “Gigi,” a 72-year-old Jewish grandmother from Boca Raton, Florida. Krumholtz is also an executive producer along with Grandma’s House Entertainment.

It will shoot this year and is slated to air in 2015. Gigi indulges herself after she discovers that she has access to her dead husband’s bank account [xxviii]. This series fits in with IFC’s quirky personality and will air in 73 million U.S. homes [xix].

David Dobkin to Direct “Badlands” for AMC

In July, AMC ordered Badlands, a martial arts drama that is loosely based on the Chinese Journey to the West. It is the third AMC series that was picked up straight to series at the network [xxxi].

However, it was announced on November 24, 2014 that director David Dobkin has signed onto the project as series director and executive producer. Dobkin has worked on Wedding Crashers and Shanghai Knights previously. AMC bought six, one-hour, episodes with an expected premiere either in late 2015 or early 2016 [xxxii].

Works Cited—

[i] AMC Logo accessed 11/20/2014

[ii] AMC Contact accessed 11/20/2014

[iii] Hoovers AMC profile accessed 11/20/2014

[iv] AMC Shows accessed 11/20/2014

[v] Boyhood, IFC accessed 11/22/2014

[vi] Portlandia, IFC accessed 11/22/2014

[vii] AMC Networks/BBC accessed 11/22/2014

[viii] AMC Leadership accessed 11/22/2014

[ix] Quarter Earnings accessed 11/30/2014

[x] Chellomedia deal accessed 12/1/2014

[xi] Quarter projections accessed 11/30/2014

[xii] Operating income accessed 11/30/2014

[xiii] Sarah Barnett, BBC accessed 11/22/2014

[xiv] Perry Simon future plans accessed 12/1/2014

[xv] BBC Worldwide North America accessed 12/1/2014

[xvi] Sarah Barnett at Sundance accessed 11/22/2014

[xvii] Better Call Saul premiere accessed 10/28/2014

[xviii] Better Call Saul video accessed 12/1/2014

[xix] AMC double night debut accessed 12/1/2014

[xx] Co-creators Better Call Saul accessed 12/1/2014

[xxi] BBC deal accessed 11/24/2014

[xxii] Metacritic BBC critically-acclaimed accessed 11/29/2014

[xxiii] BBC America management accessed 12/1/2014

[xxiv] Chellomedia acquisition accessed 12/1/2014

[xxv] October Gale acquisition accessed 10/28/2014

[xxvi] Portlandia fifth season accessed 12/1/2014

[xxvii] Recap New Year’s Day accessed 12/1/2014

[xxviii] IFC orders comedy series accessed 12/1/2014

[xix] IFC series accessed 12/1/2014

[xxx] Current state of stock market accessed 12/1/2014

[xxxi] Badlands accessed 12/1/2014

[xxxii] David Dobkin signs on accessed 12/1/2014