by Breanna Andrade

Headquarters: Belo Corporation/400 S. Record St./Dallas, Texas 75202

Phone: (214) 977-6606

Website: Belo.com

Brief History

Originally A.H. Belo Corporation was founded in 1842 by Alfred Horatio Belo. Since its date of origin A.H. Belo Corp has encompassed both newspapers and television industries. After over hundred years of managing two industries the company split in 2008. Currently Belo Corporation only deals with the Television industry and A.H. Belo Corporation with Newspaper industry.

About Belo

Belo Corporation is one of the leading TV broadcasting companies. Belo Corp is based in Dallas Texas and TV media revenue includes not only cable-news channel properties but also local-TV retransmission fees paid by cable systems and satellite TV services.  Belo Corp. has thrives on creating a relationship with their small-screen fans.  Belo currently has 20 local television stations that serve markets in 10 states. Most of their stations though are based in Texas and Washington. Belo is affiliated with the four major broadcast networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX). They are also affiliated with a few independent stations as well as mini-networks like The CW and MyNetworkTV. Belo corporation also has two of the  highest ranked stations; these being WFAA of Dallas and KHOU of Houston. Belo also operates in a small number of local and regional cable news outlets, including NWCN in  Seattle and TXCN in Texas. [1]

 

  President and Chief Executive Officer 

 

The President and Chief Executive Officer of Belo Corp is Dunia A Shive. In 1993 Shive firsted joined Belo as a corporate controller and was promoted in 1995 to Vice President/Controller. Shive was then promoted to president of Media Operations and Executive Vice President of Belo until 2007 when she earned her current position. Shive holds a bachelors degree of business administration in accounting from Texas Tech University. [2]

Belo’s Board of Directors

Belo Corporation has eleven Board of Directors. The Board of Directors includes: Robert W. Dechard, Dunia A. Shive, Wayne R. Sanders, James M. Moroney III, Henry P. Becton Jr, M. Anne Szostak, Judity L. Craven, Lloyd Ward, Dealey Herndon, McHenry Tichenor Jr, and Peter Altabef.  Each of Belo’s directors serves on each of the three standing committees of the Board.  Although Belo is managed by the board of directors it is interesting to note that Chairman Robert Decherd and his family control about 55% of Belo’s voting stock. [2]

         

All Board of Directors Pictures courtesy of Belo Corporation.

 

 Holdings

Belo Corporation has 20 local television stations these include; KVUE-TV,KTVB-TV,WCNC-TV, WFAA-TV,WVEC-TV, KHOU-TV, WHAS-TV, WUPL-TV, WWL-TV, KASW-TV, KTVK-TV, KGW-TV,KENS-TV, KING-TV, KONG-TV, KREM-TV, KSKN-TV, KMOV-TV, KMSB-TV, KTTU-TV. [3]

 

 

 Audience

Below is a chart that encompasses the call letter, affiliate, market, reach, and market rank of all of Belo’s 20 Broadcast Stations.

[4]

Belo’s Top 3 Competitors

Lin TV Corp

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.

[2]

Where Belo Corp Stands in the Ranking

Belo Corporation is currently Ranked 10th among Broadcast Television according to AdAge.com.[5]

Financials 

Below is a chart documenting Belo Corporations current financial progress over the last two years. [6]

Recent News

September 27 2012: Belo Corp. Launches Private Advertising Marketplace

Belo has announced that they will launch a Belo Private Ad Marketplace. This marketplace  is a new digital platform that connects different advertisers with Belo’s digital advertising inventory across its websites.  This new digital platform will allow advertisers to have direct access to Belo’s 17 million online consumers. This program helps advertisers provide more influential media placements online, while also offering more targeted brand display advertising. On the Belo’s website it states that “Belo’s Private Ad Marketplace was created to partner with select advertisers to leverage the high demand for its local sites..It also gives advertisers the opportunity to more efficiently partner directly with Belo, an award-winning producer of quality digital news and information.” said Joe Weir, Belo’s Vice President/Digital. [7]

 

October 30th 2012: Belo Corp. Gains Big From Political, Olympics Revenue

Strong political and Olympic advertising revenue gave Belo Corporation a lift in their third quarter.  Belo generated $17.7 million in political revenue and $13.4 million in Olympics revenue. Both of these statistics are significantly higher than what was recorded in their third quarter in 2008.  Net earnings nearly doubled, from 13 cents to 24 cents a share. During this time period Belo’s TV station business also  had a 50% improvement in cash flow, which includes earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

Belo’s total spot revenue when political revenue is added climbed up to 18%. Without political their spot revenue was still up 5.1%. This increase came from the 4.6% improvement in local spot business and a 5.8% gain in national spot revenue. The political campaign and Olympics had a great affect on Belo Corporation’s third quarter revenue due to their success in spot advertisements. [8]

 

October 30th 2012: Third Quarter Results

On October 30th 2012 third quarter results reported that Belo’s net earnings per share of $0.24 compared to net earnings per share of $0.13 in the third quarter of 2011. Dunia Shive stated that “our strong cash generation has allowed for a special dividend and for the early redemption of our May 2013 notes in a net present value cash-positive transaction.  Our solid financial position gives us the flexibility to pursue acquisitions and investments and consider further opportunities to increase shareholder returns.” [4] [9]

View complete Third Quarter Report.

 

November 7th 2012: Belo Corp. Unveils New Small Business Marketing Solutions, Local Events Content

Belo announced another agreement to launch a specialized small business marketing solution in fourteen of their markets. Belo’s station websites will now provide small local businesses with the opportunity to advertise to their targeted neighborhood-level audiences through a partnership with DataSphere Technologies. Joe Weir, Belo’s Vice President / Digital stated that “Belo is continually looking for opportunities to help advertisers reach the audiences most relevant to their businesses and investing in solutions to improve the experience for our website visitors.” This new agreement will let Belo’s website users access thousands of upcoming events and activities in each market.  This advertising venture allows  users to find events by neighborhood, event type or specific time frame. [10]

Learn More about DataSphere Technologies 

 

November 29th 2012: Media Company Belo Corp Launches ScreenShot Digital, Inc. 

Belo Corporation announced today the launch of ScreenShot Digital, Inc., another new digital advertising solutions company. ScreenShot Digital will partner with local and regional marketers across the United States in order to enhance their business objectives through digital media consulting and advertising services. Belo’s investment in the new company shows their commitment to expanding their digital expertise in order to prepare for the inevitable growth within digital media. [11]

 

Outlook

Looking at the fourth quarter, Shive said, “we currently expect political revenue to finish
in the range of $29 million to $30 million for the fourth quarter, which would result in $58 million to $59 million of political revenue for the full year. Total spot revenue, including political, in the fourth quarter of 2012 is currently expected to finish up in the range of 11 to 13 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011″. Over the this semester Belo Corporation has looked into many different ways to enhance their relationship with not only the consumer but also their advertisers in order to expand on a more integrated digital platform. [9]

References:

[1[ Belo Corporation. (n.d.). Belo. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Belo Corporation website: http://www.belo.com/

[2] Hoovers. (n.d.). Belo Corp. Retrieved November 18, 2012, from Hoovers website: http://www.hoovers.com/…/company-profile.Belo_Corp.cd4daffa5e828f9a

[3] CJR. (n.d.). Belo Corp. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Columbia Journalism Review website: http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=belo

[4] Nasdaq. (2011, March). Belo Corp. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Nasdaq website: http://secfilings.nasdaq.com/edgar_conv_html%2f2011%2f03%2f11%2f0000950123-11-024777.html#FIS_BUSINESS

[5] AdAge. (n.d.). Belo Corp. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from AdAge website: http://adage.com/datacenter/datapopup.php?article_id=237431

[6] AdAge. (n.d.). Media Family Trees. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from AdAge website: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/186264/belo-corp-gains-big-from-political-olympics-reve.html#axzz2D4VcGlIZ

[7] Belo Corp. (2012, September 27). elo Corp. (BLC) Launches Private Advertising Marketplace. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Belo.com website: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105373&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1739009&highlight=

[8] Friedman, W. (2012, October 30). Belo Corp. Gains Big From Political, Olympics Revenue Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/186264/belo-corp-gains-big-from-political-olympics-reve.html#ixzz2EOet6rGi.Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Media Post News website: http://Belo Corp. Gains Big From Political, Olympics Revenue

[9] Belo Corp. (2012, November 29). Media Company Belo Corp. (BLC) Launches ScreenShot Digital, Inc. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Belo website: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105373&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1762952&highlight=

[10] PRNewsWire. (2012, November 7). Belo Corp. Unveils New Small Business Marketing Solutions, Local Events Content. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Yahoo website: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/belo-corp-unveils-small-business-150000012.html

[11] Belo Corp. (2012, November 29). Media Company Belo Corp. (BLC) Launches ScreenShot Digital, Inc. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Belo website: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105373&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1762952&highlight=