Viacom

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Barbara

Ryan Doody, Georgina Macdonald

Viacom’s Holdings

Viacom, Inc. (VIAB) is an American media conglomerate with particular interests in cinema with Paramount Pictures, America’s oldest film studio; and cable television as the sixth largest cable ownership company globally, in order of revenue. Viacom houses media networks that reach approximately 700 million global subscribers with leading channels including MTV, VH1, BET, COMEDY CENTRAL and Nickelodeon.

Click here to see a list of all Viacom’s holdings

National Amusements

National Amusements, Inc. have a controlling interest of the media company. National Amusements is Viacom founder and billionaire Sumner Redstone’s holding company. This company holds a majority stake in both Viacom and its sister company, CBS Corp. Viacom was originally founded by media magna Sumner M. Redstone in 1971 and then reestablished in 2005 after splitting its original format into two publicly traded companies; Viacom and CBS Corporation. Sumner Redstone then became CEO of the newly defined Viacom, Inc. until February 2016. At the age of 92, Redstone resigned from his chairmanships at both CBS and Viacom after a court-ordered psychiatric examination.

The Redstone’s Legal Battles

This court-ordered examination by a geriatric psychiatrist is just one noteworthy outcome that has come out of a continuous stream of legal battles within and around the famously fractious Redstone family. The specific inquiry into the 92 year old’s health came after the newly-dismissed Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman sued Redstone, claiming that his dismissal was proof that Sumner was under the control of his daughter, Shari Redstone. At the time there were many rumors that Sumner Redstone’s failing health had allowed his daughter to run his company for him. These rumors were further supported by his supposed successor being someone close to Shari. Dauman and the five other board members dismissed by Redstone this year have sued to prevent their ouster. Their strategy was to prove that Shari took advantage of her father’s mental incapacity in order to seize control of the billion dollar companies. Their ‘legal drama’ and public familial feuding has been highly publicized over the last few years presenting the company as volatile, unstable and, thus, detrimentally impacted their professional image.

Management

Sumner M. Redstone, Founder & Executive Chairman

Sumner Redstone, Majority Shareholder of Viacom and Nat’l Amusements ; Chairman Emeritus

Shari E. Redstone, Non – Executive Vice Chair of Board of Trustees of Viacom

Acting CEO of Viacom Inc.; President and CEO of Viacom G.E.O.

Former CEO and President of Viacom Inc.

The Country’s Oldest Movie Studio

Paramount Pictures Corporation has experienced its worst fiscal year in Brad Grey’s twelve years as Chairman and CEO of the corporation. During his comments about their dismal year, Grey painted a ‘rosier picture’ for the future of Paramount Pictures. He hinted that with the dismissal of Dauman, the era of cost-cutting and streamlined content was over. Moreover, he insinuated that this would further allow a move ahead with more inventive content by acquiring more sub companies to provide blockbuster results; as in the spirit of Disney’s buying of companies such as Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm which has set up its slates for the next decade

The development of content is certainly the main issue with Paramount Pictures. It is reported that since the departures of Marvel, DreamWorks Animation and DreamWorks SKG, the corporation has been floundering for lucrative content for development. Grey also commented on repairing Paramount’s image within the film industry. They are seen as ‘penny-pincher’ with a poor business affairs process; a destabilized management team within their production division; and an inability to successfully launch branded sequels (as seen this year with Star Trek Beyond and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

“Recently, we’ve missed more than we should have.’ Grey said to Deadline magazine; but he went on to say that Paramount has ‘a very strong, diverse slate ahead.’ A true statement, according to critics; their roster includes a huge range of films from Oscar contenders like Scorsese’s Silence to the next chapter of the billion dollar franchise; Transformers: The Last Knight (Click here for news and spoilers).

CBS Merger

Over the past year, Viacom has flirted with the idea of re-merging with CBS, and as of November 2016 it seems inevitable. Shari Redstone has said in an interview that she “think[s] it makes sense at this point in time to explore whether it’s in the interest of both companies to merge again” (13). Viacom’s poor cable performance has put it at a weak position when it will eventually negotiate the merger with CBS. While it is uncertain who will lead the company, the most likely contender is Les Moonves, CBS’s current CEO (4).

Cable Performance

Viacom’s cable holdings have not seen nearly as much success in the past year as they have had in the past. As of November 20, 2016, there are no Viacom channels in the top 5 cable networks during Primetime. In fact, in the list of the 15 top channels on cable based on total day viewership, Viacom channels – Nickelodeon and Nick at Night – only appear twice (10).

*Highlighted channels are owned by Viacom

Source: medialifemagazine.com

The two most notable absentees from this list are MTV and Comedy Central – two of Viacom’s major channels. Comedy Central has seen a drop in viewership mainly due to the end of two of its most popular shows – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. After Jon Stewart’s departure, Comedy Central’s viewership declined a painful 37% (11); the channel has yet to see a comparable replacement.

The new era of Comedy Central programming has yet to see the same success as its predecessors. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’s average rating of 0.32 is about half that of Stewart’s. The Daily Show’s lack of success represents the channels struggle as a whole. While Trevor Noah may be likeable, In the words of Hayley C. Cuccinello of Forbes Magazine: “His dimples and adorable South African accent just aren’t cutting it” (11)

MTV has described the channel’s cable ratings plunge as a “transitional era” where it’s largely youthful demographic access the channel’s content primarily OTT through the MTV app. Its TV ratings have fell 29% between 2014 and 2015, yet MTV can still boast over 49 million Facebook likes, which is significantly higher than channels like Fox News that have higher TV ratings. While it may have digital success, MTV as a cable network will have to seriously innovate its content if it wants to stay relevant (12).

Argentina’s Largest TV Station

Management within Viacom has been a revolving door in recent months. Following the controversial departures of Dauman in August and Tom Dooley in September of this year, Robert Bakish became the company’s third CEO in three months. Bakish is a Viacom veteran; he became the President and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks in 2007 after worked for the company since 1997. (16)

Bakish’s move has already influenced many of Viacom’s strategies moving forward. He claims his desire is to strengthen the company both domestically and internationally; expected due to his background in global media networks. Bakish’s promotion moves complementarily with Viacom’s acquisition of one of Argentina’s main free-to-air channels, Telefe. The massive deal was announced in November this year, with Viacom pledging $345 million for the channel. (15) This certainly was a surprise purchase due to it’s well-known financial instability. This acquisition strengthens Viacom’s already prominent standing in South America; Telefe reaches 95% of all households in the country and reportedly has attracted 33% share of viewership year-to-date in 2016. However, the fiscal impact of a $345 million buy will be interesting to watch in a company with a reported $12 billion debt. (18)

Bibliography

James, Meg. November 8, 2016. LA Times. Sony Vue Dumps Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and Other Viacom Channels. Retrieved November 28, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-sony-vue-viacom-20161108-story.html
James, Meg. July 8, 2016. LA Times. Why Viacom Chief Philippe Dauman is fighting his longtime boss, Sumner Redstone. Retrieved November 26th, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-why-philippe-dauman-fights-sumner-redstone-20160706-snap-story.html
Cohan, William D. June 16, 2016. Vanity Fair. “It’s a Coup D’état Without a Doubt”: Is Shari Redstone Making Power Moves at Viacom? Retrieved November 26th, 2016. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/shari-redstone-power-moves-viacom
Fox, Emily Jane. November 2, 2016. Vanity Fair. Finally, There is a Winner in the Redstone Family Drama. Retrieved November 3rd, 2016. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/bob-bakish-viacom-compensation
Board of Directors. Retrieved November 24, 2016. http://www.viacom.com/about/pages/boardofdirectors.aspx#
Paramount Pictures. Retrieved November 1, 2016. http://www.paramount.com
Executives: Brad Grey. Retrieved November 1, 2016. http://www.paramount.com/inside-studio/studio/executives/meet-executives/brad-grey
Fleming Jr, Mike and Cieply, Michael. November 3, 2016. Deadline. Brad Grey Fights For Paramount’s Future Part Two. Retrieved November 4, 2016. http://deadline.com/2016/11/brad-grey-paramount-pictures-future-sumner-redstone-shari-redstone-1201847371/
Fleming Jr, Mike and Finke, Niki. October 8, 2010. Deadline. Paramount to End Relationship with Marvel in 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2016. http://deadline.com/2010/10/disney-paramount-marvel-restructure-marketing-distruibution-deal-76534/
Media By The Numbers: This Week’s Cable Ratings. November 23, 2016. Retrieved 28, 2016. http://www.medialifemagazine.com/this-weeks-cable-ratings/
Cuccinello, Hayley C. April 28, 2016. Forbes. Trevor Noah’s ‘Daily Show’ Reaches 100th Episode, But Noah Is Still Struggling. Retrieved November 28, 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2016/04/28/trevor-noahs-daily-show-reaches-100th-episode-but-noah-is-still-struggling/#67c25575820e
Zara, Christopher. April 15, 2015. International Business Times. MTV Ratings Decline Raises Relevance Questions As Young People Cut Cable Cord For Devices. Retrieved November 28, 2016. http://www.ibtimes.com/mtv-ratings-decline-raises-relevance-questions-young-people-cut-cable-cord-devices-1881468
Walters, Natalie. November 23, 2016. TheStreet. Viacom (VIAB) Merging With CBS Again ‘Might Make Sense,’ Shari Redstone Says. Retrieved November 29, 2016. https://www.thestreet.com/story/13890410/1/viacom-viab-merging-with-cbs-again-might-make-sense-shari-redstone-says.html
Fox, Emily Jane. October 19, 2016. The Hive. Will Les Moonves Soon Run Viacom, Too? Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/10/les-moonves-cbs-viacom-merger
Steele, Anne. November 15, 2016. Wall Street Journal. Viacom to Buy Argentina’s Telefe for $345 Million. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/viacom-to-buy-argentinas-telefe-for-345-million-1479231471
James, Meg. October 31, 2016. LA Times. Viacom Names Robert Bakish as Acting CEO. Retrieved November 28, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-viacom-ceo-20161031-story.html
James, Meg. November 9, 2016. LA Times. Paramount Quarterly Profit Plummets; Paramount Loses $137 million. Retrieved November 27, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-viacom-earnings-paramount-20161108-story.html
Orr, Emma and Shaw, Lucas. August 24, 2016. Bloomberg. Viacom Said to Rethink Resistance to $12 Billion Downgrade. Retrieved November 27, 2016. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-24/viacom-said-to-rethink-resistance-to-12-billion-debt-downgrade

Amblin Partners

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Paul Honnick

image sourced from AmblinPartners.com

by Paul Honnick

Amblin Partners

100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608

amblinpartners.com

Key Executives at Amblin Partners

Michael Wright – CEO

Steven Spielberg – Chairman

Holly Bario – President of Production

Jeff Small – President and Co-CEO

Kristie Macosko – Executive

Images sourced from AmblinPartners.com

Amblin Partners: A New Company Led by a Hollywood Legend

Amblin Partners, is a new film, television, and digital content creation company that develops and produces films using the Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, and Participant brands to leverage their power and board awareness to tell stories that appeal to a wide range of audiences. The partnership was officially formed on December, 15, 2015, by Steven Spielberg of DreamWorks Studios, Jeff Skoll of Participant Media, Anil Ambani of Reliance Group, and Darren Throop of Entertainment One (eOne). [1]

Legendary director Steven Spielberg is the chairman of Amblin Partners, having invested $50 million of his own money into the venture. This is the first time Spielberg has invested his own funds into his brands since founding DreamWorks more than two decades ago, in 1994. [2]

Tech billionaire Jeff Skoll, former eBay executive and founder of Participant Media, made the single largest reported contribution, investing $200 million in the partnership. [2]

Reliance Group of India was a previous equity partner of DreamWorks Pictures and is continuing its seven-year relationship with Spielberg. [2] [5]

The fourth partner, Entertainment One (eOne) of Canada, initially discussed a $50 million investment, however, the final contribution was not disclosed. [2] eOne handles the direct distribution of Amblin Partners films in multiple territories outside of the U.S., including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Benelux. [1]

The partnership also secured a $500 million line of credit through half a dozen lenders arranged by J.P. Morgan Chase and Comerica Bank. J.P. Morgan Chase has financed DreamWorks Studios since its inception in 1994. [1] [2]

Amblin Partners is led by CEO Michael Wright, and President and Co-CEO Jeff Small, who previously served as CEO and COO of DreamWorks respectively. Wright joined DreamWorks Pictures in 2014 and signed a four-year contract extension in February. [8] Small, who has been with DreamWorks for the past nine years, was originally named COO when the partnership was formed in December, but was quickly promoted to President and Co-CEO in February. Small also signed a contract extension. [9]

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg and Skoll said that the partnership will produce films appealing to adults through the DreamWorks label, while focusing more on family entertainment through the Amblin label, and Participant will focus on projects with socially relevant themes and messages. While the partnership will release some Participant branded films, Participant Media will remain a separate company and continue making documentaries and some scripted films on its own. [1] [4]

Amblin Partners also struck a multi-year deal with Universal Pictures to market and distribute their films produced domestically and in select international territories. Under this agreement, Universal Pictures and Focus Features will handle four to seven films per year, the first film being “The Girl on the Train,” scheduled to be released in October 2016. [3] The Universal deal also represents a chance for director Steven Spielberg to continue doing business with the company where he launched his Hollywood career and defined the modern blockbuster with such films as “E.T.” and “Jurassic Park.” [3] [7] Spielberg has also maintained offices on the Universal Studios lot throughout his career. However, the deal with Universal is strictly for marketing and distribution. Universal did not invest in Amblin Partners, and reportedly charges a commission of more than 7% per film under the terms of the deal. [3] [4]

Amblin Partners’ distribution deal with Universal effectively ends Spielberg’s and DreamWorks Pictures’ previous partnership with Disney, which is set to expire in August. However, under the legacy deal, Disney will distribute two Amblin Partners productions, “The BFG,” and “The Light Between Oceans.” [1] [6] At the conclusion of the partnership, Disney will retain the library of films produced by Spielberg during his tenure with Disney, including the upcoming “The BFG.” [2]

Upcoming Films

Films in various stages of production include “The BFG,” “The Light Between Oceans,” “The Girl on the Train,” “A Dog’s Purpose,” which is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2017, and “Ready Player One,” a co-production between Amblin Partners and Warner Bros. Pictures that is scheduled to be released in December 2017. [1]

“The Girl on the Train,” scheduled to be released on October 7, is to be the first film distributed under Amblin Partner’s new deal with Universal. The film is based on the New York Times best seller novel by Paula Hawkins and stars Emily Blunt (Sicario), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission:Impossible – Rogue Nation), Haley Bennett (The Equalizer), Justin Theroux (The Leftovers), Luke Evens (Furious 7), Allison Janney (Mom), Edgar Ramirez (Zero Dark Thirty), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback) and Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie). The film is about a recently divorced woman who spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she witnesses something shocking and becomes entangled in a mystery. [10]

Principal photography began on “Thank You For Your Service” in February. It is based on a novel by David Finkel and stars Miles Teller (Whiplash), Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train), Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck), Beulah Koale (The Last Saint), Scott Haze (Child of God), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider), Brad Beyer (42), Omar Dorsey (Selma) and Jayson Warner Smith (The Birth of a Nation). The film revolves around a group of soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life while dealing with the traumas of war. The film also marks the directorial debut of Jason Hall. [11]

Shooting is expected to commence this Spring for the upcoming holiday comedy “Office Christmas Party,” starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, TJ Miller, and Kate McKinnon. Will Speck and Josh Gordon are set to direct the film about a group of people who have to deal with a holiday office party gone awry. The film is expected to be released in December through Paramount. [12]

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/notes/paramount-pictures/paramount-pictures-and-dreamworks-pictures-ghost-in-the-shell-is-in-production-i/10154147848862072/

Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost in the Shell.” Image sourced from Paramount Pictures official Facebook page

Production began in April on a live-action adaptation of the famous Japanese manga series “Ghost in the Shell” in Wellington, New Zealand. The film stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Age of Ultron), and is directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman). The film will also star Japanese actor Takeshi “Beat” Kitano in his first U.S. role since 1995’s “Johnny Mnemonic.” Johansson plays a special-ops, human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9 devoted to stopping dangerous criminals and extremists in the sci-fi adventure. The film, scheduled to be released March 31, 2017, is a co-production between Amblin Partners’ DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, with Paramount distributing the film. [13] [14]

Sources

Amblin Partners. Dreamworks Studios, Participant Media, Reliance Entertainment and Entertainment One Form Amblin Partners, A New Film, Television and Digital Content Creation Company. Retrieved April 23, 2016. http://www.amblinpartners.com/dreamworks-studios-participant-media-reliance-entertainemt-one-amblin-partners/
Rainey, James. Variety. December 30, 2015. Steven Spielberg Puts His Own Big Bucks Into the New Amblin Partners (Exclusive). Retrieved April 23, 2016. http://variety.com/2015/film/news/steven-spielberg-amblin-investment-1201669720/
Lang, Brent and Rainey, James. Variety. December 16, 2015. Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Bring Amblin Partners to Universal. Retrieved April 23, 2016. http://variety.com/2015/film/news/steven-spiellberg-universal-1201662956/
Masters, Kim. Hollywood Reporter. Steven Speilberg, Jeff Skoll Talk Amblin Partners Deal: “We Are Hitting the Ground Running” (Exclusive). Retrieved April 24, 2016. https://edit.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-jeff-skoll-talk-849554
Lang, Brent and Rainey, James. Variety. December 10, 2015. Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks to Reboot with $200 Million From Participant and Universal Deal. Retrieved April 23, 2016. http://variety.com/2015/film/news/participant-dreamworks-universal-200-million-deal-1201658060/
Masters, Kim. Hollywood Reporter. September 2, 2015. Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks to Split From Disney, In Talks With Universal (Exclusive). Retrieved April 23, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielbergs-dreamworks-split-disney-819594
McClintock, Pamela. Hollywood Reporter. Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Team to Form Amblin Partners, Strike Distribution Deal With Universal. Retrieved April 23, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-jeff-skoll-team-849249
Rainy, James. Variety. February 2, 2016. Michael Wright Re-Ups as CEO of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. Retrieved April 24, 2016. http://variety.com/2016/film/news/michael-wright-amblin-partners-deal-1201694796/
Busch, Anita. Deadline. February 3, 2016. Amblin Promotes Jeff Small To President & Co-CEO. Retrieved April 24, 2016. http://deadline.com/2016/02/amblin-jeff-small-president-co-ceo-promotion-steven-spielberg-1201695827/
DreamWorks Pictures. November 11, 2015. Principal Photography Begins for New York Times Best Seller ‘The Girl on the Train’. Retrieved April 24, 2016. https://dreamworkspictures.com/news/principal-photography-begins-for-new-york-times-best-seller-the-girl-on-the-train
DreamWorks Pictures. February 9, 2016. Principal Photography Begins on ‘Thank You For Your Service’. Retrieved April 24, 2016. https://dreamworkspictures.com/news/principal-photography-begins-on-thank-you-for-your-service
Kit, Borys. Hollywood Reporter. February 19, 2016. Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman to Star in ‘Office Christmas Party’ (Exclusive). Retrieved April 24, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jennifer-aniston-jason-bateman-star-867614
Paramount Pictures. April 14, 2016. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures’ “Ghost in the Shell” is in Production in New Zealand. Retrieved April 24, 2016. https://www.facebook.com/notes/paramount-pictures/paramount-pictures-and-dreamworks-pictures-ghost-in-the-shell-is-in-production-i/10154147848862072
DreamWorks Pictures. March 3, 2016. Japanese Icon Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano Boards ‘Ghost in the Shell’. Retrieved April 24, 2016. https://dreamworkspictures.com/news/japanese-icon-takeshi-beat-kitano-boards-ghost-in-the-shell

A+E Television Networks- Carly Cott

Posted on April 17, 2015 by htfergus

by CARLY COTT

A+E Network logo image

HEADQUARTERS

235 E. 45^th Street

New York, NY 1001

www.aenetworks.com

KEY EXECUTIVES

Headshot of Nancy Dubue. Photo Credit N/A

Nancy Dubue

President and Chief Executive Officer, A+E Networks

Headshot of Robert DeBietto. Photo Credit N/A.

Robert DeBitetto

President, Brand Strategy, Business Development and A+E Studios, A+E Networks

ABOUT

With it’s beginning in 1984, A+E Networks has blossomed from a collaboration between The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company, into an international media company with 11 channels and six original brands. A+E stands for “Arts and Entertainment” and reaches nearly 160 markets worldwide, communicating to a wide array of over 60 different languages. A+E incorporates ten channels, A&E, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, History, FYI, Crime and Investigation, History (Spanish), and Lifetime Real Women. Dance Moms on Lifetime, and Duck Dynasty on A&E together are two of A+E Networks top shows, as well as most watched shows.

HISTORY

In 1984, on February 1, the Arts and Entertainment Network, now more commonly known as A+E network, was formed and began broadcasting. A show called, “Biography” is then introduced the network in 1987, as a once-a-week-prime-time series. It was not until 1990 that A+E began commissioning episodes of “Biography”. Three years later, in 1993 the Rockefeller Group decided to sell its total interest in A+E to Hearst Corporation, ABC, and NBC. The official name change from Arts and Entertainment to A+E, was made in 1995, when “Biography” became a five nights a week screened show. The History channel and Biography Chanel International were then launched in November of 1998.

When the network began broadcasting on February 1, 1984, the network hit 1,500-cable systems with nine million subscribers. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), give the network a range of rights to British programming. In just the first year, over 60 percent of A+E’s programming came from the BBC. Excitingly, the network turned its first profit in 1987, and within the year had revenues surpassing $50 million. Cable subscribers upped to a whopping 37 million, and between 1987 and 1997, the networks average growth stunted at 30 percent per year in profits and revenues.

By 2001, the History channel hit a 70 million-subscriber mark, making it the fastest growing cable network since its launch. Following, in 2009 A+E Networks combined with Lifetime Entertainment. This year, the company celebrated 30 years, and is thought to be worth around $26 billion.

FINANCIALS

A+E is a privately owned company, so there were no public financials to be found.

COMPANY NEWS

On March 17^th it was announced after 11 years working for A+E, Neil A. Cohen is leaving the network to join UTA as an Alternative TV department agent. Cohen will now be based in the New York and work with talent in cable and network. He worked at A+E as the Senior Vice President of Talent and Production, giving him what Brett Hansen noted as, “an unbeatable combination”.

Elaine Frontain Bryant and Paul Cabana. Photo courtesy of A+E Networks.

On March 18^th, it was announced that A+E had promoted their two senior programming executives after the departure of previously mentioned David McKillop. Elaine Bryant who worked as Senior Vice President of Programming moved into her position as Executive Vice President and head of programming for the A&E Network. Paul Cabana also got to Executive Vice President and head of programming for History and H2. He had previously been posted as the Senior Vice President and head of programming for H2. Bryant reports to Rob Sharenow, and Cabana reports to Dirk Hoogstra. Hoogstra and Sharenow noted both executives as being, “vital to the success of A+E Networks”.

Liz Gately. Photo Credit N/A

Liz Gateley is returning to the executive ranks and to Lifetime. Gateley has been named Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for the network. She from now on will be the head honcho in charge of movies, scripts, and unscripted series development. Lifetime has had an absent spot for head of programming since JoAnn Alfano. At the time, Lifetime was put under the watchful eye of A+E Networks’ own Nancy Dubuc.

HIGHLIGHTS/LOWLIGHT OF SPRING 2015

Spring 2015 was maybe not as exciting as Fall 2014, but had some action. Weather it was the launch of the new history website x, the collaboration and production of a new production and distribution company, or the return of a hit series, A+E Network continues to moves in a forward and upward motion into the Summer months

April 13^th, it was announced that A+E Network is launching an “Asterisk Internet Media Brand” with new spins on history, trying to spice things up a bit. So what’s the point of it all? A+E says the point is to, make history worldwide seem “less like homework”. The website, “Asterisk” features stories looking deep into contemporary culture and entertainment throughout the span of history. The site is aimed at the millennial generation, and includes mass amounts of visual stimulation, videos, photos, etc. As of the launch, the site does not have any marketing partners, but A+E says those deals are in the works. The site is split into 10 different categories including, life skills, sports, people, food and drink, ideas, arts and entertainment, work, style, travel, and tech. Evan Silverman, Senior Vice President of Digital Media for A+E Networks, says “People tend to think about history as Abraham Lincoln, but we can provide context to contemporary people, trends or places”. Silverman hopes to give viewers a daily dose of history in a new and innovative way, making it user friendly, and relevant to today’s culture.

On March 20^th, it was announced that Howard T. Owens, former National Geographic Channel president, is going back to independent TV production. The launch of a new production and distribution company, “Propagate Content”, will be run by Owens and partner David McKillop. McKillop has worked as Senior Vice President of Development and Programming at History, then as Executive Vice President of Programming for A&E, eventually moving on to work as Executive Vice President and General Manager for A&E channel. A+E Network is an equity partner for the new company, “Propogate Content”.

It was announced on January 9^th the hit series “Mountain Men” was retuning for a fourth season. The show follows six men whoa re living far from civilization, using survival skills, hunting skills, and skillful cunning efforts to stay alive, clothed, and fed. The men face chaos in the unpredictable series that prepares them for the unpredictable.

SOURCES

(1) http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/a-e-television-networks-history/

(2) http://deadline.com/2015/03/neil-cohen-joins-uta-ae-networks-executive-1201394219/

(3) http://deadline.com/2015/03/howard-t-owens-david-mckillop-production-company-ae-networks-propagare-1201401158/

(4) http://www.aenetworks.com/article/mountain-men-returns-history-spring-2015

(5) http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/ae-launches-asterisk-internet-media-brand-with-new-spins-on-history-exclusive-1201470981/

(6) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-e-at-30-how-690921

(7) http://www.aetv.com

(8) http://www.aenetworks.com/article/ae-studios-announces-first-look-development-deal-feature-film-and-television-producer-rachel

(9) http://www.aenetworks.com/article/ae-network-premieres-new-series-neighbors-benefits-sunday-march-22-10-pm-etpt

(10 )http://www.aenetworks.com/news

Comcast – NBCU – (broadcast)

Posted on October 14, 2014 by lnwolfso

by Lindsay Wolfson

Photo Courtesy of http://thegeoteam.wikia.com/wiki/File:NBC_Universal_Television_Studio_logo.jpg

NBC Universal Television

30 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, New York 10112

Key Executives:

Stephen B. Burke: Chief Executive Officer

Matt Bond: Executive Vice President of Content Distribution

Cesar Conde: Executive Vice President

Robert Greenblatt: Chairman, NBC Entertainment

Patricia Fili-Krushel: Chairman: NBC Universal News Group, NBC Universal

Ted Harbert: Chairman for NBC Broadcasting

History:

Photo Courtesy of http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/nbc/images/528091/title/nbc-logo-old-school-photo

The National Broadcast Company (NBC) was founded in 1926 with an original focus on National Radio Broadcasting, but then made the transformation into Television Broadcasting. [1]. Universal Studios began in 1906 when an immigrant bought a movie theater and then rapidly expanded his business, which inevitably led to the first enclosed space specifically designed for moviemaking. [2]. NBC and Universal became one unified company in May of 2004. These companies came together and created a unique product of television distribution and part of the film industry. On the broadcast side, there were two main networks, NBC and Telemundo, and along with the broadcast channels were countless cable networks. Of the NBC-U broadcast stations there are over 200 affiliates nationwide in major cities such as New York and Philadelphia. [3] Originally, General Electric and Vivendi owned this new founded conglomerate, but now the majority owner is the Comcast Corporation, which owns 51%. [4]. This change of hands occurred back in January of 2011. Since NBC original formation, this company has developed into a nationally recognized source for news, entertainment in sports in the television industry.

Financials:

Photo Courtesy of http://www.cmcsa.com/stocklookup.cfm

Fiscally, Comcast Corporation is a very successful corporation that is publically traded and its individual branches such as NBC-U share in that success. This past quarter, which ended in late October, demonstrated a thriving fiscal period. On the broadcast side, revenue increased 7.7% to $1.8 billion compared to the $1.6 billion achieved in the same quarter in 2013. According to the fiscal report, due to the NBC-U Broadcast’s reliable success this monetary growth in revenue is caused by the increase from advertising revenue. There are also increases in content licensing profits and retransmission consent fees. Operating cash flow increased as well for NBC-U Broadcasting. Comparatively, to the NBC-U cable networks, there was a significantly greater amount of growth. NBC-U’s cable networks only had 0.7% grown while its broadcast has 7.7% growth. Last year’s extensive fiscal success was caused in part by the promotion from the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. [5]. Comcast’s stock has been pretty stable over the past year ranging from $57.49 to $47.74. Since 2009, there has been a steady increase in the price of stock for Comcast indicating its growing success within the industry. In terms of total revenue for the Comcast Corporation, the company had a 6.2% increase from 2012 to 2013. As the year closes, it will be interesting to see if the 2014 fiscal year will bring about the same impressive results as did 2013 for the Comcast Corporation and NBC-U. [6].

This chart indicates the increased value of a stock of Comcast. Photo Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=CMCSA+Basic+Chart#%7B%22range%22%3A%2210y%22%2C%22lineType%22%3A%22combo%22%2C%22scale%22%3A%22linear%22%7D.

Fall Season:

A to Z is new romantic comedy starring Ben Feldman and Cristin Milioti.

Back in early June, NBC U released which shows were going to premiere in the Fall 2014 Season. [7]. The major staple show for the fall season was expected to be The Voice and it was utilized as a fulcrum for generating viewership on both Monday and Tuesday evenings in general for the network. NBC programmers were hopeful that the large viewership from The Voice would help the ratings for the shows that directly followed. Interestingly, although NBC-U generates extensive amounts of original content, the big draw for viewership is Sunday Night Football. This strong viewership pushed NBC-U into the top spot for broadcast this past year. Sunday Night Football even challenged the World Series this past October in questioning which would receive more viewership. [8]. There were many programs tested for this past Fall Season.

The new comedy pilots for the Fall 2014 season included Bad Judge, Marry Me, and A to Z and the new drama pilots included Constantine, State of Affairs and The Mysteries of Laura.

MV5BMjA1NjUyNDk0OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDM1ODM3MjE@._V1_SY317_CR1,0,214,317_AL_

The Mysteries of Laura is a new drama starring Debra Messing. Courtesy of imdb.com

MV5BMzA2MjIyNzg2OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTgyMTcxMzE@._V1_SY317_CR1,0,214,317_AL_

State of Affairs is a new drama starring Katherine Heigl. Courtesy of imdb.com

Fall Ratings & Critical Reception:

Out of those new pilots that were slated for Fall 2014 Season, many were not picked up to continue. Comedies such as A to Z and Bad Judge will not continue further after this initial trial run, but these shows will both finish production and air the remaining product. [9]. Both shows had started decently in terms of ratings, but then they both started to collapse. For NBC’s newest dramas such as State of Affairs and Mysteries of Laura, they have had a decent start amongst the Broadcast lineup and have not been cancelled as of yet.

Information Courtesy of http://www.nbc.com

“Mysteries of Laura” has surprisingly kept its presence along with other dramas with a 1.8 rating amongst 18-49 years olds. [10]. In terms of ratings, Sunday Night Football drives up the ratings for NBC. For instance, the week ending with November 23^rd, #1 Saturday Night Football generated a rating of 8.1 for 18-49 years which was far greater than the #2 Big Bang Theory which received a 4.1 for the same age demographic. This shows that across multiple genres, NBC exhibits success in primetime Broadcast Television.

Late Night Television Powerhouse:

After the record-breaking spring launch of NBC’s new Late Night lineup, the success of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Seth Meyers has continued its success into the Fall 2014 Season. The Tonight Show has been pretty strong against its competitors such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Show with David Letterman. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon has received 1.18/6 rating for the 18-49 demographic which surpasses his direct timeslot competitors in the 2014 3^rd Quarter. Many were fearful that Jimmy Fallon’s success was only temporary, but now after continuing on this fall season that appears not be the case. [16].

Photo Courtesy of http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_name_and_logo_for_the_tonight_show_by_pentagram.php

Photo Courtesy of http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/LATE-NIGHT-WITH-SETH-MEYERS-Monologue-Highlights-1120-20141121

Also, this past fall has marked the 40^th season for Saturday Night Live, which remains under the direction of Lorne Michaels. Overall, this season has been pretty weak in terms of ratings, but peaked when Chris Rock hosted with musical guest Prince. [11]. This show’s best rating so far received only a 2.2/10 for the key 18-49 demographic, which is not very strong at all.

Opening Sequence for Saturday Night Live’s 40th Season. http://vimeo.com/107482286

(Photo Courtesy of http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/04/25/saturday-night-live-clips-coming-to-yahoo/ )

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Ratings:

Every year, one of the major staples for NBC Broadcast is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, even though it is not during primetime hours. This past Thanksgiving, the parade received its 3^nd largest rating in the past 13 years. The program received a 6.2/10 rating in adults 18-49 and 22.6 million viewers total. Last year’s parade though, had the 2^nd largest viewership with a rating of 6.6/10 since 2004. [12].

Every year, one of the major fall staples for NBC Broadcast is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Photo Courtesy of http://social.macys.com/parade/?cm_mmc=VanityUrl-_-parade-_-n-_-n

Looking Forward:

After receiving over 18 million viewers and 4 Emmy Nominations for the Sound of Music Live, NBC decided to proceed and create another live performance. [13] [17]. This new performance of Peter Pan will be starring Allison Williams as Peter Pan and Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.

141017_2820050_Peter_Pan_Live__December_4_on_NBC

Peter Pan Live will be airing December 4th at 8pm starring Allison Williams as Peter Pan and Christopher Walken as Captain Hook. [15].

This live performance will be taking place in a former aircraft warehouse on Long Island, New York. There is an estimated budget of $10 Million to put together this one-night only performance. [14]. The expectations of this performance are extremely high due to the viewership success of the Sound of Music Live.

Works Cited:

1. Announcing the National Broadcasting Company, Inc. (1926). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://earlyradiohistory.us/1926nbc.htm

2. NBCUniversal History. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.nbcuni.com/corporate/about-us/history

3. NBCUniversal. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2014, from http://corporate.comcast.com/our-company/businesses/nbcuniversal#accordion-1

4. Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

5. Comcast. (2014, October 23). Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.cmcsa.com/earnings.cfm

6. Comcast Corporation. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CMCSA

7. Kissell, R. (2014, June 2). NBC Announces Fall Premiere Dates for New, Returning Series. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/nbc-announces-fall-premiere-dates-for-new-returning-series-1201207308/

8. Kissell, R. (2014, October 27). Ratings: NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football’ Dominates World Series on Fox. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/data/ratings/ratings-nbcs-sunday-night-football-dominates-world-series-on-fox-1201340093/

9. Hibberd, J. (2014, October 31). NBC to cancel ‘Bad Judge,’ ‘A to Z’ with zombie twist | EW.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/31/bad-judge-a-to-z/

10. Predum, L. (2014, October 28). NBC Gives ‘Mysteries of Laura’ Full Season Pickup. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/mysteries-of-laura-full-season-pickup-nbc-1201341098/

11. Kissell, R. (2014, November 2). NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ Hits Season Highs With Chris Rock, Prince. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/nbcs-saturday-night-live-hits-season-highs-with-chris-rock-prince-1201345402/

12. Bibel, S. (2014, November 28). ‘Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade’ Garners 22.6 Million Viewers, Ranking as The Second Most-Watched Parade in 13 Years. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/11/28/macys-thanksgiving-parade-garners-22-6-million-viewers-ranking-as-the-second-most-watched-parade-in-13-years/333311/

13. About. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.nbc.com/peter-pan-live/about

14. Littleton, C. (2014, November 26). NBC Hopes ‘Peter Pan Live’ Can Fly to New Heights. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/tv/features/peter-pan-live-nbc-new-heights-1201364850/

15. Watch Peter Pan Live! December 4 on NBC from Peter Pan LIVE! on NBC.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.nbc.com/peter-pan-live/video/peter-pan-live-december-4-on-nbc/2820050

16. Kissell, R. (2014, September 25). Variety. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/latenight-ratings-nbcs-fallon-meyers-easy-winners-for-q3-abcs-kimmel-nightline-up-1201313970/

17. The Sound Of Music Live! (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.nbc.com/the-sound-of-music-live

iHeartMedia INC.

Link

by Michael Rubloff

Contact Information:

iHeartMedia INC. 200 East Basse Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78209 (210) 822-2828

Company History

iHeartMedia INC. was founded in 1972 with the purchase of a first FM channel in San Antonio under the name of Clear Channel Communications. iHeartMedia expanded over the course of thirty years, and by 1995 owned forty-three radio stations. However, with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, iHeartMedia radically expanded and added several stations. Currently, iHeartMedia owns eight hundred-fifty radio stations in the United States that reaches 150 markets. In September 2014, Clear Channel Communications rebranded itself as iHeartMedia INC. [1]

Clear Channel Logo [2]

iHeartMedia INC. logo [3]

On September 16th, 2014 Clear Channel made a massive commitment to the future by rebranding to iHeartMedia INC. The former name Clear Channel was derived from an AM channel and is no longer relevant. iHeartRadio however, is a massive source of entertainment for millions of people. iHeartMedia better reflects what Clear Channel had built and its goals for the future. iHeartMedia also felt that its name was not well known compared to other services such as Spotify and Pandora even though iHeartRadio provided millions of people everyday with entertainment. This move was made in order to make the brand and the product more synonymous with each other.

Corporate Leaders:

Robert Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia INC. [2]

Robert Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Richard J. Bressler, President and CFO of iHeartMedia INC. [2]

Richard J. Bressler, President and CFO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Wendy Goldberg- Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer

Wendy Goldberg, Executive Vice President and CCO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Gayle Troberman, Executive Vice President and CMO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Financials:

iHeartMedia is a publically traded company in the OTC market (IHRT). Over the past year the stock has remained relatively stable with a year low of $6.10 and a high at $9.40. The high occurred in the week after the announcement of the rebranding to iHeartMedia.[5] Previously, the ticker for Clear Channel was CCO. In its third quarter report, iHeartMedia reported that revenues were up three percent to 1.6 billion dollars. [6]

Past Six Months of Stock Values of iHeartMedia [3]

Past Six Months of Stock Values of iHeartMedia [5]

Competitors:

iHeartMedia’s long-standing rivals have been CBS Radio and Cumulus Media. However, in the past ten years with the emergence of Satellite Radio, Sirius XM has taken over as iHeartMedia’s biggest rival in terms of revenue. iHeartMedia has permeated SiriusXM, as two of the stations featured on SiriusXM, Z100 and Kiis 102.7, are owned by iHeartMedia.

Pandora Logo [7]

Now that iHeartMedia is putting a focus on its online music service, iHeartRadio, it now competes with Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Radio, and Google Play. In this field iHeartRadio has a great deal of catching up to do as Spotify and Pandora dominate the online streaming market.

However, iHeartMedia has an advantage over its competitors because it crosses over multiple platforms. For instance, Other radio giants such as Cumulus or Sirius are limited to their radio stations. On the other hand, Pandora and Spotify are limited to their apps or their website. iHeartMedia is able to cross between these two platforms in order to better serve their customers desires. Because of this, it is able to capitalize on where its competitors are limited.

Events:

iHeartMedia is known for its excellence in creating live events directly catered to specific demographics. On October 2nd, it announced the first ever iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, a massive concert aimed at Latin music fans.[8] It took place on November 22nd, and was a massive success. This experimental event seems to have been a good investment for iHeartMedia as their Spanish and English radio stations reach “93 percent of Hispanics monthly” [9].

iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina logo [10]

The Fiesta Latina is the newest addition to iHeartMedia’s collection of live events including the Jingle Ball Concert Tour, Country Festival, and the iHeartRadio Music Festival. While it remains to be seen if the Fiesta Latina will be made into an annual event, it most likely will given its success. One week later, on October 9th, the lineups and locations of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour were announced. This annual tour has become one of the year’s most exciting events. The tour will begin on Sunday, November 30th and finish on Monday, December 22nd. This event is supposed to cater to listeners of the top40 stations on iHeartRadio and reflect what listeners want to see. This year the New York City concert will be streamed exclusively on Yahoo.com for fans who are unable to attend.[11]

October 2014:

October was a busy month for iHeartMedia as it made several business announcements. On October 7th, iHeartMedia announced a $200 million partnership with Omnicom to develop a multi platform device that will give insight into iHeartMedia’s events as well as technologies.[12]

While this will help Omnicom better target customers, the real winner is iHeartMedia. This deal is dangerous for iHeartMedia’s competitors because this project will allow iHeartMedia to see how it can improve on its multi platform features. Essentially, iHeartMedia will continue to widen the gap between what Pandora and Cumulus are able to do. This will help iHeartMedia become a more versatile company and extend its already industry leading reach.[12]

The next day on October 8th, iHeartRadio announced that it would be available on Android Wear beginning on October 15th. This represents another step forward for the integration of iHeartRadio in technology as iHeartRadio had already announced integration with “Amazon’s Fire Phone, Amazon’s Fire TV, Android Auto, Google’s Chromecast, Apple’s CarPlay, Samsung’s Gear 2 Smartwatch, Qualcomm’s AllPlay and new auto partnerships with Subaru, AT&T Drive, GM, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia and Volvo” [13] earlier this year. By spreading across to different manufacturers, iHeartMedia makes itself more accessible, convenient, and well known. This strategy is directly reflective of the rebranding because it exposes more users to the services provided by iHeartMedia.

iHeartMedia did not stop there. On October 15th, Gayle Troberman was named the Chief Marketing Officer of iHeartMedia. This is a new role created with the intention to “connect them (iHeartMedia) more closely to consumers, helping integrate the company’s brands, products and platforms even more deeply into consumers’ daily lives.” [14] This is necessary after the rebranding because it will decrease the amount of time needed for consumers to become familiar with the iHeartMedia brand. This is a fantastic idea and could pay off exponentially for iHeartMedia in the coming years. iHeartMedia is doing a fantastic job of identifying what it needs to improve and is taking logical steps to ensure it remains an industry leader.

What’s in the future:

In the next year, iHeartMedia hopes to continue to reach more customers through social media, live events, and radio. It hopes that its customers will become familiar with the iHeartMedia brand and be able to connect it to popular music events, radio stations, and the iHeartMusic application.

iHeartMedia has embraced the change that is coming to the industry and appears to pioneering the way for other companies to follow it. While the long term effects of rebranding remain to be seen, it has initially been successful. In the next half year, look for iHeartMedia’s competitors to try and catch up with the ability to move across platforms.

Resources

[1] Clear Channel Becomes iHeartMedia. Published September 16, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[2] Clear Channel Logo. Published June 26, 2012. Accessed November 29th.

[3] iHeartMedia INC. Logo. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 29th.

[4] Corporate Team. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 22nd.

[5] Stock Information. Updated Daily. Accessed November 29th.

[6] Financial Report. Published October 28th, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[7] Pandora Logo. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 22nd.

[8] iHeartMedia Fiesta Latina Announcement. Published October 2nd, 2014. Accessed October 30th.

[9] iHeartMedia Factsheet. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 22nd.

[10] iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina Logo. Published November 22nd. Accessed November 29th

[11] Jingle Ball Tour. Published October 9th. Accessed November 22nd.

[12] iHeart Media Omnicom Partnership. Published October 7th, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[13] iHeartRadio Android Wear Integration. Published October 8th, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[14] Gayle Troberman named iHeartMedia’s Chief Marketing Officer. Published October 15, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

CBS Radio

Posted on October 5, 2014 by chport

by Carly Port

[a] Photo Courtesy of www.billboard.com; CBS Radio Logo

By Carly Port

CONTACT INFORMATION [1]

1271 Avenue of the Americas FL 44

New York, NY 10020

(212) 649 – 9600

www.cbsradio.com

ABOUT CBS RADIO

CBS Radio operates as a division of Columbia Broadcasting System and as one of the leading providers of original media content across an array of platforms. CBS Radio delivers material to an audience of over 72 million and owns and operates 126 radio stations in 27 markets [2].

CBS made its debut network broadcast on September 18, 1927 at 3 p.m. Sixteen stations from Providence to St. Louis were present that Sunday. In January 1941, CBS launched Latin American stations in eighteen countries [3]. In 1974, CBS Radio reignited the radio drama craze with its introduction of CBS Radio Mystery Theater [3]. In November 1995, CBS was bought out by Westinghouse Broadcasting [4]. CBS Radio became a part of Infinity Broadcasting in June of 1996. In September of 1999, reports announced that Viacom would acquire CBS Corporation for nearly 37 billion dollars [5]. Finally, in 2005, Infinity Broadcasting rebranded itself as the new and current CBS Radio [6].

Key Executives

[b] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Radio President & CEO Dan Mason [7] 2008 Most Powerful Person in Radio

[c] CBS Local Media Chief Operating Officer Anton Guitano

[c] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Local Media Chief Operating Officer Anton Guitano

[d] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Radio Executive Vice President, Operations New York Market Manager Scott Herman

[e] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Radio President of Sales Michael Weiss

[f] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Logal Digital Media President Ezra Kucharz

In September, CBS Corporation added John Vilade as Vice President of National Digital Sales for CBS Local Media. In this position, from a strictly radio focus, Vilade will work directly with Michael Weiss to expand opportunities and conveniences for interested advertisers and expedite revenue expansion [8].

Additional Executive Biographies

TOP COMPETITORS

CBS Radio’s top competitors in the market are Iheartcommunications and Radio One [9].

INSIDE CBS RADIO {PLATFORMS}

Broadcast

CBS Radio provides industry-leading, play-by-play sports content to stations nationwide. CBS Radio Broadcast caters to over two dozen fan-favorite franchises of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB all over the board featuring the Boston Celtics, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Red Wings, New England Patriots, New York Giants and the New York Yankees. CBS Radio boasts beloved personalities as a key factor of its broadcast success such as Carson Daly, Ryan Cameron, Mike Francesa and Kevin and Bean to name a few [10].

Local Digital

CBS Local Digital Media accumulates well-known, dependable media brands providing consumers with a unique, “local” experience. This multimedia venture combines pertinent characteristics of CBS’s radio and television departments to create over twenty major market doorways into exposure of news, weather, traffic, sports and entertainment, industry-leading music and lifestyle sites. Portals into Radio.com offer live and on-demand visual and audio content and Eventful presents a terminal for event discovery. The on-the-go aspect of CBS Local Digital Media keeps nearly 50 million consumers content and happy on a monthly basis [11].

Mobile

CBS Radio has made listening to consumers’ favorite radio stations easier than ever. With CBS Radio’s new mobile approach, audiences can access their favorite sports outlets, latest-breaking news sources and most diversified music programs in the most portable manner yet, available as apps on an eclectic assortment of devices. Not only are 150 radio stations now available in mobile form, but also news clips and video interviews with the hottest athletes and artist can now be viewed on the majority of user-owned devices [12].

CBS Sports Radio

Only two years old, CBS Sports Radio is available in all of the Top 10 markets nationwide. A hybrid of CBS Radio and CBS Sports, CBS Sports Radio covers a vast range of sports and features experienced, renowned broadcasters such as Jim Rome, Tiki Barber, Doug Gottlieb and Scott Ferrall among many others [13].

FINANCIALS

[g] Photo Courtesy of www.finance.yahoo.com; CBS Corporation Stock Market Summary at the Close of 12/1/2014

At the end of the day on December 1, 2014, CBS Corporation was down 0.41% at $54.47 a share. The year change was down 7.63% and was lowest in October, at $48.91 a share. The highest stock price this year was in March at $67.55 a share [14].

CBS Corporation successfully ended its third quarter with revenues of $3.37 billion, a 2% increase from last year’s third quarter revenues of $3.30 billion. Recent successes can be attributed to CBS’s Television Networks, specifically Thursday Night Football. Net earnings decreased from last year’s third quarter revenues of $431 million to a current $400 million, related to increased foreign exchange rates [15].

CBS Corporation’s Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone summarized the company’s reaction to the third quarter statement [15]:

“CBS continues to succeed on the strength of its tremendous content… Les and his team are optimizing the Company for future growth at every turn, and I have the utmost confidence in their ability to increasingly drive shareholder value in these dynamic times of great opportunity [15].”

WHAT’S GOING ON?

Michigan News Network

[h] Courtesy of www.allaccess.com; CBS Radio & Townsquare Media Partner to Create Michigan News Network

On September 2nd, CBS Radio and Townsquare Media partnered together to form a news and sports all-Michigan network, Michigan News Network. The network provides content for nearly twenty affiliate stations across the state of Michigan. MNN provides top-of-the hour updates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. as well as 60-second sport broadcasts three times a day. CBS Radio will provide the original content while Townsquare Media will have exclusive syndication rights and deal with affiliate relations with stations ranging from Ann Arbor to Detroit. CBS Radio’s Detroit stations such as WWJ Newsradio 950 have always topped Michigan radio charts and have established themselves as the leading voices for Detroit, so the move towards providing content for the entire state has been readily anticipated [16].

“We are excited to be working with Townsquare to distribute our award-winning programming to listeners across the entire state of Michigan, while also realizing the highest value for our content.” –CBS Radio CEO & President Dan Mason [16]

“We Can Survive” Concert

[i] Photo Courtesy of losangeles.cbslocal.com; Pharrell Williams at the 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

Hollywood Bowl attendees were in for the experience of a lifetime at CBS Radio’s second annual We Can Survive Concert. As part of CBS Radio’s special events platform and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, two dollars of every ticket sold aided two organizations, Young Survival Coalition and Living Beyond Breast Cancer, which cultivate and assist families and women that have been touched by and endured breast cancer [17].

[j] Video Courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls1kyMl7af4

The night was filled with emotions and female-centered song choices with Pharrell Williams beginning his set through a narration of his personal accounts of dealing with cancer in his family and statements about the pertinence of females to mankind and survival. Williams performed an eclectic set, and was joined by Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, and Alicia Keys for her first year at the event, as well as other top-tier performers. The music performed covered everything from Country and R&B to Hip-Hop and Top 40 [17].

[i] Photo Courtesy of radio.com; Taylor Swift at the 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

[k] Photo Courtesy of radio.com; Taylor Swift at the 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

Multimedia Sources:

[a] CBS Radio Logo From 07 March 2013. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[b] Dan Mason Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[c] Anton Guitano Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[d] Scott Herman Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[e] Michael Weiss Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[f] Ezra Kucharz Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[g] CBS Corporation Market Share Updated 01 December 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[h] Michigan News Network From 26 August 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[i] 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert Pharrell Williams From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[j] 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert Behind the Scenes Video From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[k] 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert Taylor Swift From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

Text Sources:

[1] CBS Radio Contact Information Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[2] About CBS Radio Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[3] CBS Radio Timeline Updated 21 May 2012. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[4] Westinghouse Buys CBS New York Times From 02 August 1995. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[5] Viacom Buys CBS CNN Money From 07 September 1999. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[6] Infinity Rebranding From 14 December 2005. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[7] Radio Ink Magazine Most Powerful People in Radio From 07 July 2008. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[8] John Vilade Named VP of CBS Radio From 03 September 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[9] CBS Radio’s Top Competitors Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[10] CBS Radio Broadcast Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[11] CBS Radio Local Digital Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[12] CBS Radio Mobile Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[13] CBS Sports Radio Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[14] CBS Corporation Stock From 01 December 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[15] CBS Corporation Financials From 05 November 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[16] Michigan News Network From 26 August 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[17] CBS Radio Recap We Can Survive Concert From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

Buenavista/Disney Pictures

Posted on October 5, 2014 by iclynch

by Izzy Lynch

Photo Courtesy of [1] www.waltdisneystudios.com

Contact

Address: 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA. 91506

Phone: (818) 560-1000

Twitter: @DisneyPictures

History and Properties

Snow White Original Vintage Film Poster. Photo Courtesy of www.animationartstudio.com

The Walt Disney Studios is the world-renowned film division of the film-turned-lifestyle corporation, The Walt Disney Company (NASDAQ: DIS) [2]. Founded in 1923 under the name The Disney Brothers Studios by brothers Walter E. Disney and Roy O. Disney, the company gained recognition for Walt’s impressive art in second dimension animation and the rich character portrayals [3]. The company has become the most successful animation brand in the world, crafting iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse, and producing timeless features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Mary Poppins (1964), Lion King (1994) and many more. Since the studios’ inception, the company has grown to host multiple lucrative businesses, including resorts, theme parks, and merchandise, all utilizing the characters created through the company’s television and film productions. The studios have expanded their reach to include The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, The Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios (2006), Lucasfilm Limited LLC (2012), Marvel Studios (2009), Touchstone Pictures, Disneynature, and Disneytoon Studios. Films produced by these subsidiaries are distributed through The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures [3].

CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Robert A. Iger. Photo Courtesy of www.waltdisneystudios.com

CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Robert A. Iger. Photo Courtesy of [4] www.waltdisneystudios.com

Management

As of 2005, Robert A. Iger has headed The Walt Disney Company, serving as both Chief Executive Officer and Chairman [4]. Iger reinstated the company’s relationship with the previously affiliated Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, which led to the hiring of Pixar Chief Executive Officer John Lasseter and Pixar President Edwin Catmull to head the then floundering Disney Animation sector of the studios. Since incorporating the two as Chief Creative Officer and President of the Walt Disney Animation Studios respectively in 2008, the company has seen an incredible improvement in the quality of content, producing blockbuster hits including Wreck It Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), and Big Hero 6 (2014) [5].

Financial Information

The Walt Disney Company, which became a publicly traded entity in 1940 [6], released its Q4 and 2014 financial reports on November 6th, 2014 to reveal record-breaking numbers for the fourth year in a row. Along with impressive numbers from the overall company, Studio Entertainment revenues soared 22% from last year, earning nearly $7.3 billion out of the nearly $49 billion company revenue total, garnering the largest increase in revenue of the Company’s other business ventures [7].

The Walt Disney Company’s 52 Week Stock Price Chart. Photo Courtesy of Businessweek.com

Recently, the company experienced an impressive increase in their current trading price with the release of their eighty-eight second Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser. Trading prices for the company rose to a share price of $92.96 on Friday, November 28th [8], which has proven to be not only a 52-week high, but also an all time high for the company [9]. While stock prices represent the entire Walt Disney Company, it is important to note that the characters from the film productions are an integral part of what keeps the company relevant and popular, which has a significant impact on the stock price.

Current Projects

The Walt Disney Studios operates their production of films in the format of larger tent-pole franchises supporting the lower budget features. The company tends to produce films that fulfill the requirements of the four quadrants of moviegoers: both male and female, over and under 25 years of age.

After Disney’s overwhelming domestic and international success of 2013’s animated hit Frozen, the company has continued to produce high quality and exceptionally profitable films throughout its current slate [10], which includes both live action and animated features. Towards the closing of a strong summer for the company, with releases such as Maleficent and Planes: Fire and Rescue, Marvel Studios released the tent-pole live action film Guardians of the Galaxy [10], which has garnered the title of being the top grossing film of 2014 with a total earning of $331.1 million at the global box office; a considerable achievement for its $170 million budget [11]. Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Bradley Cooper, the film explores the uniting of a motley crew attempting to save the galaxy at the hands of an evil villain [12]. The film premiered on August 1st, 2014, and was highly praised by critics and audiences alike, scoring a 90% critic approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes [13].

Big Hero 6 Promotional Poster. Photo Courtesy of www.marvel.wikia.com

Guardians of the Galaxy served as the ideal primer for the November 7th release of Big Hero 6, a collaboration of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Marvel Studios. Big Hero 6, with its $165 million production budget [14], incorporated characters from Marvel’s 5,000-character bank into the Animation Studios’ computer generated imagery format [15]. The result was a success; the film garnering a $50 million domestic box office in its opening weekend, as well as gaining the top spot of the weekend box office ahead of highly anticipated films, such as Warner Brothers’ Interstellar [16]. The film has netted $224.1 million in the worldwide box office to date [16].

Future Projects

The Walt Disney Studios have many high profile projects planned for release through 2019, having announced multiple films from each of its accompanying brands. Many of these films include live-action reboots of past Disney classics, continuations of prior franchises, or new franchise launches.

The most highly anticipated upcoming releases include the reboots of the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by the talented J.J. Abrams, utilizes the Lucasfilm-constructed universe to continue the saga and is scheduled for release in December, 2015. The film, which takes place in a time after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and others from the first installment of the series, has generated great interest. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has announced that his contract has been extended from terminating in March 2015 to June 2018 to oversee the release of two of the three upcoming Star Wars films [17].

Walt Disney Studios has also announced the continuation of the wildly popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, with a new film scheduled to be released in the summer of 2017. The film will be titled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales [18].

Marvel plans to continue the producing widely profitable Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and Guardian of the Galaxy franchises, scheduling to release sequels to the films through 2018. Marvel has multiple other first-appearance films set to premier as well [19].

Pixar Animation Studios has announced the production of Toy Story 4, which came as a shock to many after the seemingly neat conclusion of the franchise with the release of Toy Story 3 (2010) [20]. Pixar has also announced plans to revive The Incredibles and Finding Nemo films with sequels, including the anticipated release of the film Finding Dory in 2016 [21]. Pixar is anticipating the release of their next film, Inside Out, a story told through a child’s emotions, in June of 2015 [21].

Sources

[1] “The Walt Disney Studios >> Walt Disney Studios Home” The Walt Disney Studios Retrieved 28 November 2014

[2] “DIS-NASDAQ.com” NASDAQ.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[3] “Disney History” The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 29 November 2014

[4] “Rober A. Iger – The Walt Disney Company” The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 29 November 2014

[5] “Big Hero 6 Proves it: Pixar’s Gurus Have Brought the Magic back to Disney” Wired.com Retrieved 29 November 2014

[6] “Chronology of The Walt Disney Company” Chronology of The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 26 November 2014

[7] “Disney Fiscal Report 2014” The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 22 November 2014

[8] “DIS: Stock Information” Businessweek.com Retrieved 28 November November 2014

[9] “‘Star Wars’ Trailer Awakens Walt Disney Stock” TheGuardian.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[10] “The Walt Disney Studios Current Slate The Walt Disney Studios Retrieved 28 November 2014

[11] “2014 Top Grossing Films” BoxOfficeMojo.com Retrieved 1 December 2014

[12] “Guardians of the Galaxy – IMDB” IMDB.com Retrieved 1 December 2014

[13] “Guardians of the Galaxy Review – Rotten Tomatoes” RottenTomatoes.com Retrieved 28 November 2014

[14] “Big Hero 6 Box Office” BoxOfficeMojo.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[15] “Disney Buys Marvel Entertainment” TheGuardian.com Retrieved 26 November 2014

[16] “Nov. 7th 2014 Weekend Results” BoxOfficeMojo.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[17] “Bob Iger to Remain Disney Chief through 2018” Variety.com Retrieved 26 November 2014

[18] “‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’ Set for Summer 2017” The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 23 November 2014

[19] “Marvel Studios Announcements” The Slate Retrieved 27 November 2014

[20] “Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 4’ Set to Play in Theaters in 2017” Variety.com 07 November 2014

[21] “Pixar Animation Studios Official Slate” Pixar Retrieved 30 November

CBS Corporation

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Gabrielle Sferra

By Gabrielle Sferra

Courtesy of CBS Corporation [1]

CBS Headquarters

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

History

CBS Corporation is a major media conglomerate founded by William S. Paley in 1928. While the company originated in radio broadcasting, television broadcasting soon became CBS’s area of success. Historically, programs such as “I Love Lucy”, “Gunsmoke“, and “All in the Family” catapulted CBS into profitable success [2]. In 1995, Westinghouse Broadcast bought CBS and sold it again in 2000. Viacom and CBS Corporation were considered a unit since 1970, but in 2006, the company split into two and CBS Corporation became what it is today [3].

Executives

Sumner M. Redstone

Courtesy of CBS [5]

Mr. Redstone is the CBS’s Executive Chairman of the Board, as well as Viacom’s. His role as executive chairman resulted from the split of the two companies in 2006. He is the leading shareholder in both companies. [4]

Leslie Moonves

Courtesy Of CBS [7]

Mr. Moonves is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation. He is responsible for all of the corporations holdings. He has held this position since the Viacom/CBS split in 2006. He has pushed the company to new limits, and brought the network and its various programs to more than 100 countries. [6]

Financials

Courtesy of Reuters [8]

CBS Corporation is a publicly traded company in NYSE exchange. The current value of share is $58.89. This past year, the stock price has steadily increased. Starting the year at a much smaller exchange rate ($37.98), each quarter has produced more profit than the previous [9]. This past quarter, the company has earned $3.6 Billion, which is an increase of 3% from last quarter [10].

Company Holdings

Courtesy of CBS Corp. [15]

CBS Corporation is responsible for many different stations, including, but not limited to, CBS Television, CBS News, The CW, Showtime, and The Smithsonian Channel. [11] CBS is consistently the number one station on broadcast television in total viewers. However, does not lead in viewers in the ideal 18-49 demographic [12]. CBS Television is definitely geared to a much older demographic. In recent years, with the introduction of programs such as “2 Broke Girls” and “Hawaii Five-0“, the network has been trying to breach this gap. However, their popular programs are also watched by the desired 18-49 demographic, contrary to popular belief [13] [14].

Successful Programs

The Big Bang Theory

Courtesy of Chicagonerds.com [21]

“The Big Bang Theory” is CBS Corporation’s number one comedy, consistently bringing in viewers every week [16]. The show premiered in September 2007. Syndication rights were bought by TBS and is currently the number one syndicated program, both off-network and first-run syndication [17]. Each episode costs TBS around $2 Million to air [18]. Before the show aired this September, three of the lead actors (Cuoco, Galecki, & Parsons) were bargaining for higher salaries, as they currently make $350,000 an episode. The negotiations have not begun yet, however [19]. Finally, the show appeals to many advertisors, as it is popular both within and outside of the 18-49 money demographic. Each 30 second spot costs aprox. $326,260, the second highest rate for primetime television, behind NFL Primetime Games [20].

How I Met Your Mother

Courtesy of TV Listings [24]

The popular series “How I Met Your Mother” will conclude this year in its ninth season. Syndication of the popular show began in 2008 with Lifetime Network. FX picked up syndication rights as well in 2011. The non-exclusive deal allows both networks to air the program. To air an episode, it costs $725,000 [22].

With the show concluding in May, CBS has just announced a spin-off called “How I Met Your Dad”, which will focus on the feminine version of the “How I Met Your Mother” story [23].

Fall Season

CBS introduced six new shows this season, including the new primetime hit The Crazy Ones, starring Robin Williams, and The Millers, starring Will Arnett. Other series, such as Hostages starring Toni Collette, and Mom, starring Anna Faris, have not pulled in high ratings. All of the new CBS shows, unfortunately, have been dropping audience numbers week-to-week [25].

Upcoming

Courtesy of Fansided.com [27]

CBS Corporation recently worked out a deal with Netflix to air the first four seasons of the hit show “Dexter“, in order to entice people to buy subscriptions to their network Showtime. The four seasons will be available until January 1, 2014, when they will be replaced by the next four season [26].

Another news program is in the early stages of production, as Charlie Rose and Gayle King may sign on to revamp the failing program “The Early Show.” During a block of daytime talk shows, CBS is interested in pursuing a hard-hitting news show to counter program. An announcement is expected anytime for the future of the two-hour program [28].

The CW Network has had a great season for CBS Corp., as the three new shows this season (“Reign“, “The Originals“, “The Tomorrow People“) were all picked up to finish their seasons in May. Nielsen says that ratings for the CW are up 9% from last year, averaging around 2 Million viewers. While the network’s target audience is a younger demographic, the 18-49 Demo is up 11% this year for the CW [29].

Courtesy of Youtube [30]

This past week, CBS became the first network of the season to sweep four straight nights of viewers in the 18-49 demo, as well as total viewers, from Tuesday to Friday [31].

CBS Fall Schedule:

Courtesy of The Wire [32]

Sources

[1] CBS Corporation Logo

[2] William Paley Obituary NY Times

[3] Dominick, Joseph R., Fritz Messere, Barry L. Sherman, and Joseph R. Dominick.Broadcasting, Cable, the Internet, and Beyond: An Introduction to Modern Electronic Media. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.

[4]CBS Company Portfolio

[5] Ibid.

[6] CBS Company Portfolio

[7] Ibid.

[8] Reuters CBS Portfolio

[9] Wall Street Journal

[10] CBS Corporation Investor Profiles

[11] CBS Company Portfolio

[12] TV By The Numbers – Ratings CBS

[13] The Wire – CBS Demo

[14] TV By The Numbers – CBS 18-49 Demo

[15] CBS Company Portfolio

[16] TV By The Numbers – Big Bang Theory

[17] TV Media Insights – Syndication

[18] Deadline – Syndication of Big Bang Theory

[19] Hollywood Reporter – Big Bang Theory Pay Raise

[20] AD Week – Big Bang Theory Advertisement Rates

[21] Chicago Nerds – Big Bang Theory Picture

[22] TV By The Numbers – November 18th Ratings

[23] Deadline – How I Met Your Mother Syndication

[24] Yahoo News – HIMYM Spinoff

[25] Zap2it – HIMYM Picture

[26] TV By The Numbers – Netflix & Dexter Deal

[27] Fansided- Dexter Picture

[28] NY Times – CBS’ The Early Show Revamp

[29] Variety – The CWTV

[29] Youtube CW Sizzle Preview

[30] Variety – The CWTV & CBS

[31] The Wire – CBS Fall Schedule

[32] Columbia Journalism Review

Sirius XM Radio

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Stephanie Bronfein

By Stephanie Bronfein

The official SiriusXM logo, courtesy of siriusxm.com [1]

SiriusXM Satellite Radio

1221 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.siriusxm.com

Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube

History [2]:

SiriusXM Radio is one of the largest radio broadcast and subscription media companies in the United States that provides original content to 25.6 million subscribers. Their commercial-free programming covers a diverse range of music, sports, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather shows, with celebrity personalities such as Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam and Tiesto. While the most popular way that consumers experience SiriusXM Radio is through satellite radio in their cars, it is also available for the home or office and can be streamed through SiriusXM Radio’s website or through Apple and Android mobile applications.

Key Executives [3]:

James E. Meyer – CEO

Scott Greenstein – President & CCO

Dara Altman – Executive VP & CAO

David J. Frear – Executive VP & CFO

All photos courtesy of SiriusXM Radio. For more information on the company’s executives click here.

Financial Standing:

SiriusXM Stock Change from 11/12 to 11/13, courtesy of siriusxm.com [4].

With 36 million shares to its name, SiriusXM Radio’s stock value sits at $3.68, with a 52-week high of $4.18 and a 52-week low of $2.67 [4]. Since the third quarter of 2012, the recorded revenue has increased 11% to $962 million. The adjusted EBIDTA increased 21% to a new record of $296 million and free cash flow increased 26% to $245 million [5].

Liberty Media Takeover:

Liberty Media Logo, courtesy of forbes.com [9].

SiriusXM Radio shareholders finally spoke up this August about Liberty Media Corporation gaining control of over 50% of the company, which resulted in former Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin leaving the company, along with a string of other directors. In 2009, when SiriusXM Radio was considering filing for bankruptcy, John Malone of Liberty Media offered a $530 million investment to get the subscription satellite radio company back on its feet. This deal allotted 40% control over the company to Malone and included a three-year grace period where Malone could not acquire a controlling interest in SiriusXM Radio’s shares [6].

In light of this period’s expiration at the end of last year, SiriusXM Radio shareholders failed to find a loophole in the investment-agreement terms to prevent Malone from buying out the company, so he did just that. What’s more, Malone didn’t allow other shareholders to vote on the deal. This is the main contention that SiriusXM Radio shareholders have against Liberty Media. Shareholders even went as far as suing the SiriusXM Radio board of directors in Aug. 2012 for not creating a strong enough defense against the Liberty Media takeover in the original investment-agreement [7].

As of the end of August, SiriusXM Radio share value has increased more than 2,160% at $3.62 since the Liberty Media investment was made, where shares were valued at as low as $0.16 [7].

Liberty Media also holds controlling shares of the Atlanta Braves, Leisure Arts, Inc., MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and TruePosition, Inc [8].

SoundExchange Sues SiriusXM:

SoundExchange Logo, courtesy of forbes.com [10].

On Aug. 16th, SoundExchange filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM Radio for $50 to $100 million in damages, claiming that the radio provider underpaid artist royalties from 2007 to 2011 [12].

SoundExchange is an independent nonprofit organization that has been designated by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect digital performance royalties from statutory license users—such as SiriusXM Radio—for the purpose of distributing those royalties to the rightful copyright owners and artists. As the only Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service in the country, it has been decided by the Copyright Royalty Board that SiriusXM Radio should pay a federal statutory royalty rate to avoid penalty of copyright infringement for the public performance of sound recordings that they do not own (via transmitting them to their subscribers). This rate is applied to the gross revenue as defined by the Copyright Royalty Board, which was settled between 6-8% for the years of 2007 to 2012 [11].

At the root of the lawsuit, which is compromised of four different counts against SiriusXM Radio, is a claim that the gross revenue has been reduced without proper authorization from the Copyright Royalty Board, causing a multi-million dollar underpayment to SoundExchange [11]. Essentially, SiriusXM Radio has been cornered for their bad accounting.

From their reported gross revenue, SiriusXM Radio excluded revenue collected from pre-1972 sound recordings, incremental revenue on SiriusXM Radio’s premier subscription package and two additional subscription packages that include both music and talk programming [12]. On top of these three counts against SiriusXM Radio is a claim that they did not pay late fees to SoundExchange on time—in part due to the fact that they didn’t know that they apparently owed SoundExchange millions of dollars—and SoundExchange expects to collect interest on these late fees [13].

While copyright law does not protect pre-1972 sound recordings, the Copyright Royalty Board requires that those who publicly perform them must separately recognize the attributed revenue generated—if SiriusXM Radio chooses to exclude this revenue from the reported gross revenue to SoundExchange, the deduction must be precise and the methodology transparent. Since SiriusXM Radio does not distinguish the revenue made from different kinds of music programming, the percentage that they attribute to the pre-1972 sound recording revenue can only be defined as an assumption, and is therefore unlawful [11].

SiriusXM Radio excluded incremental revenue that was garnered from the pricing difference between its standard package and its premier package. While the subscription satellite radio service is allowed to exclude channels that don’t include music programming—and the premier package only gives consumers additional talk/news programming—the additional channels offered in the premiere package aren’t offered for a separate charge [12]. In plain, the premier package also includes all of the programming from the standard package, meaning that it unlawfully excludes publicly performed sound recordings from its reported gross revenues [11].

In the same vein, SiriusXM Radio excluded revenue from the Family Friendly and Mostly Music packages, which were originally offered from XM Radio before the merger and contain both music and talk programming. The publicly performed sound recordings in these packages are supposed to be covered by a statutory license. Once again, SiriusXM Radio did not spell out the method by which they separately recognize revenue garnered from music and talk channels in these packages, therefore making the reduction from gross revenue unauthorized by the Copyright Royalty Board [11]. Of all the exclusions, this one makes the least sense.

At the time that this post was published (Nov. 20th, 2013), SiriusXM Radio has declined to comment on the lawsuit and no progress has been made to the public in regards to securing a jury trial date.

New Programming:

David Bowie, photo courtesy of billboard.com [14].

David Bowie’s Limited-Run Station [14]:

From October 30th through November 12th, SiriusXM Radio ran a limited-time station revolving around David Bowie’s latest album, “The Next Day,” which premiered on November 5th. As a promotional effort for the album, the station revealed five songs from an expanded version of the album. Other programming included rare demos, covers and live performances of Bowie’s.

Danny Howard, photo courtesy of billboard.com [15].

UK DJ Danny Howard Brings EDM radio show to BPM [15]:

Premiering December 5th on the BPM station, Danny Howard will join an elite group of European DJ’s to showcase what’s hot in the UK and European electronic dance music scene. With this weekly show, he hopes to break DJs and producers from his side of the pond that might not have gotten stateside exposure. Prior to accepting this stateside residency with SiriusXM Radio, Howard hosted a show on BBC Radio 1 titled, “Dance Anthems with Danny Howard.”

21st Century FOX logo, photo courtesy of 21cf.com [17].

FOX Business returns to SiriusXM Radio [16]:

Originally dropped in 2008 after Sirius Satellite Radio merged with XM Satellite Radio, FOX Business reclaims its spot next to FOX News as another 21st Century Fox radio station. With their nationally regarded collection of personalities, the stations are sure to attract a wide audience with their discussion of news, politics and current affairs. The deal is set to last through 2019.

Sources:

1. SirusXM Logo

2. SiriusXM Corporate Overview

3. SiriusXM Key Executive Bios

4. SiriusXM Stock Quote

5. SiriusXM Third Quarter Financial Results

6. Bloomberg Article on SiriusXM Investor’s Being Shortchanged by the Liberty Media Takeover

7. Billboard Article on SiriusXM Shareholder’s Position on Liberty Media Takeover

8. Liberty Media Asset List

9. Liberty Media Logo

10. SoundExchange Logo

11. SoundExchange Sues SiriusXM Radio – Filed Complaint

12. Billboard Article – SoundExchange Sues SiriusXM Radio Over Royalty Calculations

13. Billboard Article – SoundExchange Seeks Up to $100 million from SiriusXM for Underpaying Artist Royalties

14. David Bowie’s Limited-Run Station

15. Danny Howard’s UK EDM Show

16. FOX Business Returns to SiriusXM Radio

17. 21st Century Fox Logo

Columbia/ TriStar Pictures

Gallery

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Emily Pietrocarlo

This gallery contains 18 photos.

Located in Culver City, California, Columbia TriStar Pictures (a.k.a Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group) is the movie marketing, licensing, and promotions arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)1. SPE is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, which is a subsidiary of … Continue reading →

Principles & Practices

Website by the students of TRF235

Tag Archives: Syracuse University

Viacom

Amblin Partners

by Paul Honnick

Amblin Partners

100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608

amblinpartners.com

Key Executives at Amblin Partners

A+E Television Networks- Carly Cott

Comcast – NBCU – (broadcast)

Key Executives:

History:

Financials:

Fall Season:

Fall Ratings & Critical Reception:

Late Night Television Powerhouse:

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Ratings:

Looking Forward:

Works Cited:

iHeartMedia INC.

Link

Contact Information:

Company History

Corporate Leaders:

Financials:

Competitors:

CBS Radio

Buenavista/Disney Pictures

CBS Corporation

Sumner M. Redstone

Leslie Moonves

Financials

Sirius XM Radio

Columbia/ TriStar Pictures

Gallery