The Netflix Effect: From
Bernstein Research's
Todd Juenger: "We think the inevitable collision course between ubiquitous, on demand, ad free content on
Netflix,
versus consumption of traditional linear TV, is starting to create
fractures in the now infamous 'pay-tv ecosystem.' .... Must be hard for
Jeff Bewkes to resist saying 'I told you so.'" Meanwhile,
Viacom's
Philippe Dauman is telling everyone who will listen his deal with Netflix did NOT impact
Nickelodeon's ratings. --- From
Nielsen yesterday: Total
TV HHs are down -0.5% to 114.1M; total P2+ is down -0.2%, K2-11 is down
-2.7%; A18-34 is down -0.6%; and A18-49 is down -1.3%. So is there any
good news? Well, teens (12-17) are up slightly (0.6%) and older folks
(A55+) are up significantly (2.4%). So what's happening? See today's
column in
The Morning BRIDGE ("
Your Latest Nightmare ....") or check the quotes from Bernstein Research's
Juenger above.
A Cable Monopoly? Does cable have a monopoly on fixed highspeed broadband? Could be, says the
Technology Policy Institute. But keep your eyes on wireless (as shown in the chart here) as well as those cozy cable/
Verizon Wireless hookups.
$$$: Leading
Deadline's second annual list of most-out-of-whack media compensation deals (courtesy of executive editor
David Lieberman) are:
David Zaslav,
Josh Sapan and
Joe Clayton. (Really?
Charlie overpaying???) Are there any names you don't know on the list? Check
here. --- According to
Bloomberg Businessweek,
OWN may have lost as much as $330M since its 2008 launch.
Discovery's current investment in the project is ~$420M. --- That
Facebook IPO will start trading on May 18 with 337.4M shares at a price range from $28 to $35/share on the NASDAQ. --- The
Discovery Channel has purchased internet video network
Revision3 for ~$30M. --- Satellite imagery firm
GeoEye has offered to buy rival
DigitalGlobe for $792M in cash and stock. --- Looking ahead to
EchoStar's 1Q report on Monday
Citi analyst
Jason Bazinet looks for a big revenue jump (+72% to $823M) courtesy of the acquisition of
Hughes. --- Following
CVC's 1Q report (and subsequent 8% market loss) yesterday,
Canaccord Genuity analyst
Tom Eagan lowered his FY12 revenue estimates slightly (from $6.76B to $6.758B), and lowered his telecom adjusted operating cash flow more considerably to reflect a y/y decline of 6.3% to $2.338B. ---
Scripps Networks Interactive hit an intraday 52-week high of $44.15 in early trading. ---
Cablevision is once again poised to sell its
Clearview Cinemas chain which has 45 theaters in the NY tri-state area. More from
Reuters.
Quarterly Reports: The
Washington Post reported 1Q results including flat revenues at its
Cable One division ($190.2M v. $190.3 y/y), a y/y basic video customer loss of more than 25K to 622K, a gain of 23K for high speed data to 463K and a gain of more than 19K net new telephony customers to 186K.
Gov't: With
Sen. Charles Grassley's (R-IA) pique apparently assuaged, the
Senate will vote on
FCC nominees on Monday.
More news first thing Monday from
The Morning BRIDGE.•
