In our note yesterday Apple to be Handed the Holy Grail that Cable Has Always Wanted, we made an incorrect projection related to the release window for the to-be-announced iTunes rental service . While we now expect all major Hollywood studios to participate in the Apple iTunes rental service that will be unveiled at MacWorld…
On Tuesday morning (1/15, 9 am PST), we expect Apple’s Chairman and CEO, Steve Jobs, to announce that Apple has reached an agreement with several movie studios to embed iTunes-compatible (Fairplay DRM-encrypted) digital versions of their movies on DVDs, sell new releases in digital format within the iTunes movie store and most surprisingly, to enable…
In June 2007, Warner Music acquired Bulldog Entertainment Group. While the acquisition occurred months ago, the acquisition is probably “news” to most people reading our blog, as Warner Music did not announce the transaction. The acquisition was deemed immaterial given its size. The proof that the acquisition occurred is that Bulldog is now clearly listed…
Jim Litwak, Trans World’s President says it all (conference call earlier today, via streetevents.com transcript): “By category, for the combined November/December period, our comp sales were down 28% in music, and 7% in video. Our video game business was up 6%” “The video category represented 42% of our business, compared to 41% last year” with…
NCMI management presented a very positive outlook at an investment conference yesterday after the market close. Mgmt comments reinforce our confidence in our Buy rating on the stock and we would be buying shares aggressively at current levels. NCMI is uniquely positioned within the advertising landscape and is set to essentially become a monopoly within…
As the cable industry struggles with the significant uptick in competitive marketing spending, it is becoming increasingly clear that cable operators need to devote a far greater amount of money to their marketing efforts (that will pressure operating margins). TV-based, branding campaigns make an impression on consumers (esp., as the distribution war intensifies) and the…
We have a positive outlook for NII Holdings for 2008 and believe the stock could double as it alleviates concerns that have pressured the stock recently. Competition in Mexico, 3G launches and competitive push to talk services have been on the minds of investors while the meltdown at Sprint has many wondering if the same…
As predicted on December 10, 2007 (click for our post), Warner Bros, under increasing pressure to reinvigorate their home video business has decided to shift next-gen DVD distribution exclusively to Blu-ray from the support of both HD DVD and Blu-ray (click here for the Warner Bros. press release). In turn, we expect HD DVD to…
2007 ended poorly for the music industry, with domestic Q4 physical and digital unit sales down a combined 12% (vs. down 2% in Q4 last year), with CDs units down 20% and digital tracks up 42%. Below is our list of ten key reasons not to own WMG at these levels: Risks to CD Floor…
When NCMI went public (Click here for IPO Preview and Initiation Report) in February 2007 at $21.00, our 2007 and 2008 adjusted EBITDA estimates (including Loews on a pro forma or as NCMI calls it “synthetic” basis) were $184 mm and $211 mm, respectively ($174 mm and $205 mm without Loews in each year) . While…
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