According to a Beta Research study, more than 100 of 225 ad execs polled indicated they planned to spend more ad dollars on the Discovery Channel in 2009 (key network owned by DISCA); see Multichannel News article, click here. While the size of the spending increase is unclear (particularly as this study was completed in…
After the close on Friday, the WSJ ran a story (Click here) on their deal blog that Greg Seibert, Vice Chairman, Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch was joining Cablevision. We have learned that Seibert left ML about two weeks ago and will shortly be named head of M&A at Cablevision (a new role from what…
While Cablevision’s FUSE Network (reported within the MSG earnings line item) has increased its distribution from 50 to 62 mm over the past year, it remains a largely irrelevant network ratings-wise. Cablevision moved FUSE from its Rainbow division into MSG with the goal of leveraging MSG’s live entertainment (music) business onto the FUSE network; launching…
Discovery experienced double-digit ratings declines in Q3 2008, principally due to the timing of program launches. In November 2008, Discovery management indicated that they had only 70 hours of original programming in Q3 ’08, well below its typical levels. Conversely, ratings rebounded significantly in Q4 ’08 (with the Discovery Channel posting total day growth, A25-54,…
Cablevision, earlier today, announced plans for a private placement of $500 mm of five-year notes. While details are limited, we believe CVC plans to sell notes with an interest rate of 8%-9%, with a yield of 11.25%-11.50% (pricing notes at about a 10% discount to par). We have heard from multiple sources that JP Morgan…
CBS ratings season-to-date are certainly better than its peers, but at the end of the day, even CBS ratings are down low single digits year-over-year, not to mention, CBS does not have any “must-have” programming such as an American Idol. At the same time, Time Warner Cable (TWC) is struggling with a number of programming…
While we continue to believe Discovery will outpace the advertising performance of its cable network peers in 2009 (as they have in 2008), we believe 2009 will see year-over-year domestic advertising declines (now estimated at -4%). We believe there are two key drivers behind Discovery’s expected outperformance: Improved ratings performance at its flagship networks, Discovery…
We are pleased to introduce an additional product to our blog readers from our Event Driven Research group. The group provides in-depth and timely research on announced and possible mergers throughout the world and has recently expanded this product into the United States. We will be posting all of their content on the blog going…
Viacom’s mass media ad campaign last week, related to a contract renegotiation dispute with Time Warner Cable (TWC), focused on TWC subscribers’ potential loss of 19 cable networks (see video embedded in full post below that ran locally in to-be-affected markets last week). While warning consumers of TV content that would be lost is fairly…
While Walt Disney World (WDW) has improved its booking trends for calendar Q1 (albeit still negative) using package discounts (7 nights for 4, hotel/admission tix) and hotel-only discounts (up to 35%), we sense the growing risk to Disney’s attendance is the health of the Orlando-area (non-Disney resort) hotels. Disney does not report the mix of…
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