iHeart Media & Entertainment

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Barbara

Niko Santore and Aria Sivick

[1] iHeartMedia Incorporated logo

Company Overview

iHeart Media Incorporated is an entertainment company who provides radio programming and live entertainment worldwide. Evolving from iHeart Communications Inc, the company now operates Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings and iHeartMedia, whose assets reach worldwide. The two divisions of iHeart Media Inc strive to support each other in advertising and entertainment, covering a record setting 150 markets and operating through 850 stations in the U.S., and supporting 245 million monthly listeners. Including iHeart Radio, the company hosts an impressive array of online and mobile services such as real time traffic services, live concerts and entertainment, and program syndication. The goal of the company is to design a more innovative and dynamic future that supports a strong digital footprint on a diverse, accessible mobile platform. [2]

[3] The iHeart Family

Key Executives

Bob Pittman – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer [17]

Richard J Bressler – President Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer [18]

Wendy Goldberg – Executive VP and Chief Communications Officer [18]

Robert H. Walls, Jr. Executive Vice President and General Counsel [18]

Gayle Troberman – Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer [18]

Scott Wells Chief Executive Officer, Clear Channel Outdoor Americas [18]

William Eccleshare –
Chairman and CEO, Clear Channel International [18]

John Sykes –
President of Entertainment Enterprises [18]

Steve Mills Global Chief Information Officer[18]

Business Module

[4] Clear Channel Outdoor Logo

In the face of a growing digital age, in 2014, Clear Channel Communications renamed itself iHeart Media in an effort to face the competition of Pandora and Spotify. iHeart Media was and is their most successful digital brand, and in order to converge to the digital age (and scoop themselves out of the $20 billion debt left from their equity buyout in 2008) Clear Channel Communications decided that iHeart and its several platforms was the appropriate label for their brand.[5] iHeartMedia works with Clear Channel Outdoor in order to expand their digital footprint and advertise in the most accessible and relatable method to their consumers. The company is one of the world’s top advertising leaders; it operates in more than 40 countries spanning 5 continents. With over 640,000 displays, it reaches 45 out of 50 of the largest markets in the United States. [6]Clear Channel Outdoor’s market reach makes the company one of the most valuable subsidiaries to market, with an increasing operating income of 14.7% to $60.8 million in the third quarter of 2016. [7]

Current News

[8]A featured performance from last year’s Jingle Ball Tour

In time for the Holidays, iHeart Radio has announced it’s line up for the Jingle Ball Tour, sponsored by Capital One. The Jingle Ball Tour is on the company’s largest sources of annual income. Celebrities such as Bruno mars, Justin Bieber, and Britney Spears will be performing. With tickets ranging from $50 to $160, the tour stops will be stopping cross country in big cities such as Dallas, New York, and San Francisco. The tour is integral to the iHeart Radio’s merit and diversity, as it is the number one leading free-all access online audio platform, reaching its 90 million listeners faster than any other digital company, including Facebook. Not only does the tour prove beneficial with exclusive deals for Capitol One customers, the tour also allows the company room for philanthropy networking. For the fourth consecutive year, iHeart Radio will partner with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation to provide an entertaining experience for hospitalized children. The Jingle Ball Tour this year will also prove integral to the subscriber and fanbase as iHeart Radio Plus and iHeart Radio All Access – two new subscription services will be released in January 2017. [9]

[10]Heart Radio All Access Promotional Logo

iHeart Radio All Access, to be released in January 2017, will mark the start of an on demand business module. The brand will now be a top competitor amongst other services such as Spotify, which allow you to listen to any song you’d like at any given time. iHeart Radio Plus will offer a unique enhanced experience to listeners. It is a different subscription service than iHeart Radio All Access, and will allow users to listen ad-supported content as well as give listeners access to other features that competitors such as Spotify do not offer. The company also stated that they are looking to bring music collection and music discovery into one entity, as 73% of consumers report their number one source of discovering music is from radio streaming. [11]

iHeart Radio is certainly the talk of the town of the company, racking in the most news (and profits) with the upcoming music festival and all-access radio streaming. The iHeart Radio app has recently hit 92 million users, according to CFO Richard Bressler. Digital listening only makes up 10% of the market, the other 90% falling under broadcast radio. This statistic, however, only leaves the market more open to the iHeart Radio and its 269 million monthly subscribers. [12]

Finances

iHeart Media’s third quarterly report of 2016 shows a revenue of $847 million (a 2% increase from 2015). Even though their revenue increased, their income before depreciation was close to 2015 at $326 million. Registered users for their streaming application increased by 35 percent (75 million total users), and usage of their application increased by 21 percent in quarter three [13]. iHeart Media’s flat income comes from Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, “one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies, operating in some 30 countries across North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific,” which saw an OIBDAN decrease of 13 percent for their international market [14]. iHeartRadio needs its new streaming services, iHeart Radio All Access and Plus to do well so that it does not fall too far behind Pandora and Spotify. iHeart’s users equate to 14.4 percent of Pandora’s and 23.3 percent of Spotify’s [16]. Even though iHeart is lagging behind Spotify and Pandora, their new take and improvement of radio with iHeart Radio All Access could close the gap between its competitors.

Google.com iHeart Media inc. stock overview [19]

(11/29/16)[15] Current Share Price (11/29/16) : $1.57

52 Week Range : $0.72 – $1.70

Average Volume : 10,910

Sources

[1] IHeartMedia Incorporated [IHeartMedia logo]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://mms.businesswire.com/media/20150408005285/en/437799/5/iHeartMedia-02.jpg?download=1

[2] “About Us.” About Us. IHeartMedia Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[3]IHeart Company Family. Digital image. IHeartMedia. IHeartMedia Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[4] Clear Communications Outdoor. Digital image. MediaVillage. MediaVillage, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[5]Sisario, Ben. “Clear Channel Renames Itself IHeartMedia in Nod to Digital.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[6]“Investor Relations for Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings (CCOH).” Clear Channel Outdoor Americas. Clear Channel Communications, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[7]Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. Reports, and Results For 2016 Third Quarter. “Clear Channel Outdoors Earnings Call Q3.” CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR HOLDINGS, INC. REPORTS RESULTS FOR 2016 THIRD QUARTER (2016): n. pag. IHeartMedia Inc. Clear Channel Communications, 9 Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[8]Zedd – I Want You To Know Ft. Selena Gomez (Live at the Z100 IHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2015). Perf. Selena Gomez and Zedd. YouTube. Selena Gomez Canada, 12 Dec. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[9]“IHeartMedia Rings in the Holiday Season with the Return of Its Iconic 2016 National “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour Presented by Capital One”.” IHeartMedia Rings in the Holiday Season with the Return of Its Iconic 2016 National “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour Presented by Capital One” | Business Wire. BusinessWire, 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[10] IHeart Radio All Access Promo. Digital image. BetaNews. IHeartMedia Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[11]McAlone, Nathan. “The Biggest Radio Powerhouse in the US Just Took Aim at Apple and Spotify with a New Service.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[12]“IHeartRadio Hits 92 Million – Radio Ink.” Radio Ink. RadioInk.com, 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[13] “IHeartMedia 2015 Third Quarter Results.” 1998.59 (1998): n. pag. IHeartMedia. IHeartMedia Inc., 5 Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[14]“Outdoor Advertising.” Outdoor Advertising. IHeartMedia Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[15]“IHRT Stock Quote – IHeartMedia Inc. Cl A Stock Price Today (IHRT:OTC) – MarketWatch.” MarketWatch. Marketwatch, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[16]“Triton Digital – Press Release – Triton Digital Releases August 2015 Top 20 Ranker.” Triton Digital. Triton Digitial, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[17] Bob Pittman. Digital image. AdvertisingHall. Advertising Hall, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[18] “Our Team.” Our Team. IHeartMedia Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[19] “Iheartmedia+stock – Google Search.” Iheartmedia+stock – Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

YouTube

Image

By Sean Mowry (scmowry)

[1]

Youtube LLC
901 Cherry Ave
San Bruno, CA
94066
(650) 253-0000

Key Executives [2]

Larry Page CEO and Co-Founder

Eric E. Schmidt Executive Chairman

Susan Wojcicki Senior Vice President, YouTube

History

In 2005 three PayPal employees, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, started up YouTube as a video-sharing site. By the end of the first year, the site had 200,000 registered users and showed more than 2 million videos a day [3]. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars despite copyright concerns from media corporations at the time. Google then decided to reach out and partner with the Universal Music Group, CBS Corp., Sony, and BMG Music Entertainment [4]. Now, more than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month and over 6 billion hours of video are watched every month on YouTube. Each minute, 100 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube and according to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. The website is a global powerhouse, with 80% of YouTube traffic coming from outside the US [5].

[18]

Finances

Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $16.52 billion for the third quarter, ending September 30, which is an increase of 20% compared with the third quarter report from 2013. $9.55 billion, or 58% of this revenue is from outside the United States. Net income for the third quarter is $2.81 billion, which is down from $2.97 billion in 2013. This is also lower than the second quarter net income of $3.42 billion [6]. As of 11/30/2014, Google’s stock is $541.83 [7].

[19]

Subscriptions

YouTube is continuing to roll out two new subscription services this year. The first is a wave of paid subscription channels, like those offered for free now, but without advertising. This was launched in 2013 but the website is aggressively expanding the number of channels this year. They now offer 238 channels, like NorthwoodsLeague, which is a summer baseball league comprised of top North American College players [8]. With more video online, and most of that online video is coming from YouTube, the website predicts that there will be a sizable share of the audience who would rather pay to watch the content than sit through advertising. The project is a means of offering more options, and it also follows the subscription models of Netflix or Hulu, but at a more specific scale so that the site can operate effectively the same as before the rollout [9][10].

[20]

The second subscription service launched this year is that of Music Key, which is a program that allows users to watch music videos without ads while also giving them the option to download the content onto their devices for offline listening and viewing. The mobile devices will also be able to continue playing music in the background when they switch to other programs. In addition to album tracks, Music Key offers downloads of concert recordings, remixes, unreleased rarities and cover versions recorded by others. While YouTube hails itself as “the biggest music service on the planet” it is desperately lagging behind Spotify’s 12.5 million paying subscribers [11].

In July of 2014, Google also acquired Songza, a music streaming service that specializes in offering playlists made by people that are advertised for listening at any given time or during any given mood that you want. Songza is still running as a separate service, but Google and YouTube are looking to apply the company’s expertise to their products like Google Play or Music Key [12].

In other news, YouTube now allows users to upload video in 60 frames per second, where before they were capped at 30 frames per second [13].

East Coast Presence

YouTube is a west coast, online company, but now it has recently opened up YouTube Space New York, a studio in Manhattan that is available to any channel that has more than 5,000 subscribers and is part of the Partner Program in which ads are hosted and revenue is shared. The studios are a way of giving content creators more means of making an effective product and expanding their audience while also giving the company a footing in the diverse media landscape of New York City. Since the studios opened in other cities like London, Los Angeles, and Tokyo two years ago, more than 30,00 people have attended 450 workshops and created 6,000 videos that were seen for 47 million hours [14][15].

[21]

Another bonus to this is that it brings the company within proximity of Madison Ave, and they have been touring the studios with advertising executives to offer them an opportunity to collaborate with creators. So a company like Maybelline could use BrandLab to host a day in which creators who focus in beauty could collaborate with them. Many of these channels offer audiences numbers that would leave traditional players envious, but advertisers continue to put a low cost on these audiences. The company hopes to change that mentality [14].

Competition From Facebook

[22]

In early November 2014, a John Lewis Christmas Ad stormed social media. The video was shared 200,000 times within the first 24 hours, and most of this was on Facebook. While that might be good for the department store, Facebook stole 40% of the online audience for the video, which would have previously belonged exclusively to YouTube. Facebook is now placing video at the heart of the company’s growth announcing this September that the platform achieved more than 1 billion views a day. Facebook is rolling out video advertising slowly, so that users can get used to the idea of having ads on their news feeds [17].

[23]

Facebook is also trying to lure content creators to the site by sharing their ad revenue in a more lucrative ratio. While they would be developing features that are reminiscent of YouTube, they have the News Feed, which is the key to their success and something that YouTube will have to anticipate combating in the near future. Often times Youtube channels will use Facebook to promote their videos but if they were to switch to the social media platform all together, a lot of ad revenue could be lost for YouTube, considering that they have been on top for so long, that they are struggling with loosing their audience and their bait for advertisers [16].

Sources

[1] YouTube Logo RT 30 November 2014

[2] Google Management RT 30 November 2014

[3] “Video Websites Pop Up, Invite Postings” RT 30 November 2014

[4] Google Buys YouTube RT 30 November 2014

[5] YouTube Statistics RT 30 November 2014

[6] Google Third Quarter Report 2014 RT 30 November 2014

[7] Google Second Quarter Report 2014 RT 30 November 2014

[8] YouTube Channels RT 30 November 2014

[9] “YouTube Considers Paid, Ad-Free Subscriptions” RT 30 November 2014

[10] “YouTube Is Said to Plan a Subscription Option” RT 30 November 2014

[11] “YouTube Music Key subscription service is unveiled” RT 30 November 2014

[12] “Google Buys Songza” RT 30 November 2014

[13] “YouTube Can Now Play Videos At A Buttery 60 Frames Per Second” RT 30 November 2014

[14] “YouTube Takes Manhattan” RT 30 November 2014

[15] YouTube Spaces RT 30 November 2014

[16] “Facebook Wants To Poach A Whole Bunch Of Talent From YouTube — And The Ad Money That Comes With Them” RT 30 November 2014

[17] “Facebook Is Stealing A Huge Chunk Of YouTube’s Audience” RT 30 November 2014

[18] Google Paint Logo RT 30 November 2014

[19] Google Stock Quote RT 30 November 2014

[20] Northwoods League RT 1 December 2014

[21] YouTube Spaces RT 1 December 2014

[22] Facebook RT 1 December 2014

[23] John Lewis Christmas Ad RT 1 December 2014

DirectTV

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Nicholas Sabatino

by Nick Sabatino

Photo courtesy of www.interpretllc.com [1]

Contact Information

Headquarters: 2230 E. Imperial Hwy, El Segundo, CA 90245 Phone: (310) 964-5000 [2] Facebook: DirecTV Twitter: @DirecTV

Executives

President and CEO: Michael White Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: Patrick T. Doyle Executive Vice President and President, DirecTV Latin America: Bruce B. Churchill [3]

President and CEO, Michael White
Photo courtesy of investor.directv.com [4]

About

DirecTV was founded in 1990 and was one of the country’s first satellite-cable providers. DirecTV offers quality television with a variety of channels, including many high definition (HD) channels. There are hundreds of channels on DirecTV and the number of channels a customer receives depends on the package that the customer buys. However, not only does DirecTV provide cable, they also provide On-Demand services, HD DVR products(recording devices) called Genie [5], and “TV Everywhere” applications so that you can enjoy your television shows or movies when you want, where you want, and on what device you choose.

DirecTV’s Genie: HD DVR
Photo courtesy of www.directv.com [6]

DirecTV is a satellite-cable provider, this means that instead of just having a cable box attached to your television inside of your home, DirecTV puts a satellite dish on top of your home. Appearance is mostly the only major difference. However, DirecTV has benefits over other cable providers. DirecTV is rated #1 in overall customer satisfaction, and has been ahead of cable for the past 14 years [7].

Financials

DirecTV offers its services in the United States and in Latin America. The company currently has over 37 million subscribers in these areas, and their revenues totaled about $30 billion dollars in 2013 [8]. DirecTV is a multi-billion dollar company traded publicly on the NASDAQ with the ticker symbol DTV. Their stock currently has a volume of 899,268 and it is being traded at $87.71 per share [9]. Over the past four years DirecTV has seen a substantial increase in subscribers. With that, came an increase in their stock value. Since 2010, DirecTV’s stock has rose about 60 points and it keeps steadily going up over time. These numbers are very good for DirecTV and proves that they are becoming more successful as a company and more people are choosing their product over others.

DirecTV stock over the last four years Photo courtesy of investor.directv.com

DirecTV’s stock price over the last four years
Photo courtesy of investor.directv.com [10]

AT&T Merger

In May of 2014, DirecTV proposed a deal to AT&T to join companies and create a merger. With this merger, AT&T could improve the services that DirecTV already has. AT&T would focus on improving the Internet quality in many areas of the country that DirecTV does business [11]. With improved Internet, customers would be able to get better access to On-Demand and Pay-Per-View options that DirecTV offers. It would also better allow for the DirecTV app to be on products such as iPads and iPhones that are contracted under AT&T service, so that DirecTV can be at your fingertips wherever, and whenever you want it to be. This is the concept of “TV Everywhere.”

Over the past few months, the merger has been overseen by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Justice Department over the legality of this merger. On November 20, 2014, DirecTV’s CEO, Michael White, said the deal should be approved next year. With this approved merger it is uncertain if DirecTV’s sales will go up. In a perfect market, the merger would cause an increase in the stock price of both AT&T and DirecTV. However, if one of the two company’s stock price starts to fall, being that both companies are in a merger, investors will sell their stock from the attached company and then both companies will have a decrease in stock price. This results in a loss of money for both AT&T and DirecTV [12].

AT&T and DirecTV Merger
Photo courtesy of www.accessnorthga.com [13]

International Expansion

In 2006, DirecTV gained 100% ownership of DirecTV Latin America [14]. With the expansion into new countries, DirecTV has asserted itself as more of a global brand. As of 2013, the number of subscribers that are from Latin America is about 18 million, which is an increase of about 9 million subscribers compared to the year 2010 [15]. With the success of expansion into Latin America, it is probable that DirecTV will expand into other markets as well and become even larger of a company. In the end of the day, it is all about getting your product to as many people as possible and making as much money as possible.

The DirecTV satellite dish portrayed as being on top of the Latin American countries where DirecTV is in. Photo courtesy of www.gigaom.com

DirecTV has expanded to Latin America.
Photo courtesy of www.gigaom.com [16]

Raycom Media

Back in September of 2014 there was a dispute between DirecTV and a broadcasting company called Raycom Media [17]. The dispute was over the broadcasting of Raycom Media’s channels through the means of DirecTV. The two companies did not come to a financial agreement by September 1st (the deadline) so for customers that had DirecTV they were unable to watch any Raycom Media channels for several days. Raycom Media is in 37 markets and 18 states, and they provide many different forms of television [18]. A major concern among people who had DirecTV and were in a Raycom Media market was the fact that they would not be able to watch some of the opening day NFL games on September 7th. Raycom and DirecTV made sure that this did not happen because of the potential financial loss that could have come from it. Agreements were made, and on September 7th customers were reinstated with their television channels.

Original Programming and What to Expect in the Future

Over the past few years DirecTV has entered into the world that Netflix and Hulu are also in. It’s the world of original programming, and it is the key to gaining more viewership, and in the case of DirecTV, more subscribers [19]. DirecTV’s goal is to have shows that viewers cannot get anywhere else. If this happens, then people may substitute the cable provider that they already have for DirecTV. DirecTV has their own channel called “Audience” that is only on DirecTV. On this channel is their newest show called Kingdom, and it came out in Fall of 2014. It stars Nick Jonas as a mixed martial arts fighter [20]. There is also a crime drama starring Thandie Newton called Rogue.

Click photo for Kingdom trailer courtesy of Youtube. Photo courtesy of www.directv.com

Click photo for Kingdom trailer, courtesy of www.youtube.com
Photo courtesy of www.directv.com [21]

There is even a special channel called “DogTV,” which is a channel specifically made for your dog to watch.

DogTV Trailer Photo courtesy of www.directv.com Commercial courtesy of www.youtube.com

Click photo for DogTV Commercial
Photo courtesy of www.directv.com
Commercial courtesy of www.youtube.com [22]

DirecTV also prides itself on its sports channels and packages. They have many packages, but their most popular one is the NFL Sunday Ticket. Every Fall if you are a customer that has NFL Sunday Ticket you can watch every NFL game that airs every Sunday [23]. New this Fall too is the introduction of NFL Fantasy Zone, a show which is all geared towards Fantasy Football. Expect growth in this department over the next few years.

There is also an ongoing dispute currently taking place between DirecTV and AMC. AMC is threatening to take away all of their channels (AMC, We TV, IFC, and Sundance) because they are claiming that DirecTV violated the existing deal that they had with them [24]. AMC is running campaigns during its show The Walking Dead, and DirecTV has an online petition[25]. DirecTV says that AMC is issuing a false alarm and nothing will happen. This is a developing story that needs to be kept a close eye on in the coming months.

In the near future, expect DirecTV to come up with more original content, renewal of their successful shows, expansion into new countries, and new and better deals to lure new customers to their services.