Seems so: The satellite company has hired Goldman Sachs to help evaluate a possible combination The Wall Street Journal reported today — contributing to a late afternoon spike in DirecTV‘s shares. The company closed +8% to $81.35 and touched $88.55, an all time high. Yesterday DirecTV CEO Michael White tried to besmirch apparently accurate and newsworthy reports about At&T‘s approach as mere “media rumors and speculation.” He added that he doesn’t “view it as productive to speculate about alternative business combinations, which may or may not occur.” But he also chose not to tell investors the facts. Brean Capital’s Todd Mitchell says a combination would give At&T — which has 5.7M video customers on its U-verse platform — “much needed scale in a post Comcast-[Time Warner Cable] world.” But Guggenheim Securities’ Michael Morris says that consolidation is “unlikely in the current environment” because competition “appears to be limiting pricing growth to consumers,...
- 5/7/2014
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
Those who follow Dish Network have their work cut out for them this morning as they try to make sense of the company’s year end report. It offers a full report for 2013, but just selected results for Q4 — and describes a new deal Dish made to transfer five of its satellites plus $11M to a sister company, Echostar, in return for shares of a tracking stock, and a leaseback agreement. Dish reported $3.54B in revenue for the last three months of 2013, which would appear to have missed the Street’s expectation for $3.59B. Net income came in at $288M, translating to 63 cents a share. That would be a significant beat over the consensus forecast for 41 cents, but it’s not immediately clear what the bottom line figure includes. Dish says that it recast its financial results to account for the closing of Blockbuster. The subscriber numbers appear to be a miss,...
- 2/21/2014
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
Comcast would snag New York City, New England, and North Carolina properties from Charter if it succeeds in buying Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg reports citing “people with knowledge of the matter.” Comcast and Charter “have a framework agreement” for what the No. 1 cable operator would pay, pegged to the ultimate price Charter negotiates if it can make a deal. Charter has offered $61.3B (including debt), or $132.50 per share — but TWC has rejected that, saying that its assets are worth at least $160. Charter is preparing to propose directors for the TWC board who would support its bid, the news service says. The report jolted Charter shares: They’re up nearly 7% in afternoon trading. TWC is slightly positive after slipping nearly 1% before the release. Although Comcast would not join Charter in its effort to buy TWC, a side deal would make it easier for the company to finance an acquisition. Charter plans...
- 1/27/2014
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
Everyone expected the numbers to be up from last year which included a $730M charge to settle a legal dispute with AMC Networks. But Dish Network did even better than investors anticipated. It generated $314.9M in net income, up from a $158.5M loss, on revenues of $3.6B, +2.2%. The Street thought revenues would be a tad lower at $3.58B. Diluted earnings at 68 cents a share were well ahead of the consensus forecast of 44 cents. The results were helped by the addition of 35,000 pay TV subscribers since the end of June, bringing Dish’s total to 14.05M. The sub increase was well ahead of the 15,000 forecast by Brean Capital’s Todd Mitchell. The company says that its churn rate dropped from last year although it “continues to be adversely affected” by the need for aggressive marketing and discounts, as well as “sustained economic weakness and uncertainty.” Average revenue per subscriber was up...
- 11/12/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
A lot of investors seem to think so after the No. 2 cable operator reported yesterday that it lost a startling number of video customers in Q3, the period that included the 32-day blackout of CBS stations and channels. Despite the bad news, Time Warner Cable shares rose 2.7% yesterday and are up another 1.1% so far today. Brean Capital’s Todd Mitchell explains why today in a devastating take-down of TWC: The probability “is high” that TWC will soon be part of a mega-merger — likely with Charter Communications, where its top shareholder, Liberty Media’s John Malone, has been evangelizing for consolidation. “The market wants it,” Mitchell says, “and TWC’s abysmal operating metrics are a solid argument that it is time for someone new at the helm.” He says that the company’s problems run far deeper than its brief run-in with CBS. “We think TWC has been deferring investment in...
- 11/1/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
The 3% jump in early trading stands out on a morning when most stocks are down. Investors are intrigued by weekend reports led by one in The Wall Street Journal that Netflix is talking to cable companies including Comcast about the possibility of making the streaming service available on their set top boxes. The company already has an arrangement like this with Virgin Media in the UK. But the U.S. is a different story. The Journal notes that talks “are in early stages and no deal is imminent” citing “people familiar with the matter.” Pay TV companies have seen Netflix as a rival. It will take a lot to persuade them that it won’t encourage subscribers to cut the cord with cable or satellite TV — or watch Netflix instead of their VOD services. Indeed, last week Liberty Media’s John Malone — the largest shareholder in Charter Communications — urged cable...
- 10/14/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
Investors are becoming so obsessed with the idea of a DirecTV-Dish Network merger that it seems to be just a matter of time before the companies succumb. Questions about the possibility kept popping up in Dish Network’s quarterly earnings call yesterday. Company watchers “seem to be fixated” on the subject, Brean Capital’s Todd Mitchell says. And execs don’t seem to mind. Last week DirecTV CEO Michael White said he’d “never say never.” And Evercore Partners’ Bryan Kraft says he has “never heard [Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen] speak as openly and positively regarding the possibility of a combination with DirecTV” as he did yesterday. The FCC blocked a satellite TV merger in 2002 on the grounds that it would leave many rural subscribers, who don’t have cable, with just one pay TV provider. But Ergen says that the business is “materially different” than it was then. Verizon FiOS and At&T U-verse serve many markets.
- 8/7/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
No details on the terms yet, but TiVo stock closed +8.3% after the court in Texas where the trial was to begin on June 10 confirmed that the case has been settled. TiVo had alleged that Motorola DVRs used by Time Warner Cable infringed on its patents for common processes including the ability to watch one show while recording another. Susquehanna Financial Group’s Thomas Claps had forecast that TiVo would prevail with a settlement that could go as high as $1B. Brean Capital’s Todd Mitchell said recently that “TiVo is well positioned for this case based on precedent, and we estimate potential damages could be as high at $800 million.” Prior to this case, the DVR pioneer was batting 3-for-3 in similar patent cases, winning settlements with Dish Network, At&T, and Verizon. TiVo has no comment on the case. It will face off with Time Warner Cable again next year...
- 6/6/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
TiVo CEO Tom Rogers has to be breathing a little easier this morning. He’s been struggling to show that the DVR pioneer isn’t just running on fumes — and settlement payments from patent-infringement suits like the big one this week with Verizon – as it struggles to compete with less expensive cable- and satellite-provided DVRs. One key to his strategy has been to persuade small- to mid-sized cable systems to use TiVo software and equipment to help them compete with technology from rivals including DirecTV and Dish Network. That initiative looked wobbly after Charter — one of TiVo’s most high-profile customers — said it’s revamping its technology plans. But TiVo won a vote of confidence this morning from Mediacom, the No. 8 cable operator with about 1M subs mostly in the Midwest. Next year it will begin to offer TiVo products including its Premiere Q 4-tuner gateway DVR, TiVo Mini IP...
- 9/27/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
TiVo‘s stock led the media pack yesterday, up nearly 4% after it announced that it will collect $250M from Verizon to settle their patent infringement dispute. And today it’s still on top, up about 3% to $10.25 in early trading. Lazard Capital Markets’ Barton Crockett helped this morning by upgrading his recommendation on TiVo stock to “buy” from “neutral” with a target price of $14. That’s a bit of a surprise: Yesterday, Crockett said that the Verizon settlement was “close to our expectations” and “not a sea-change.” But this morning he says that “upon further analysis” he concluded that the terms with Verizon make him “more optimistic” that TiVo will negotiate another settlement in its patent infringement case against Google’s Motorola Mobility, scheduled to go to trial this spring. “Google is seen by many as potentially a seller of Motorola Mobility,” Crockett says. “Settling the TiVo suit could make a Motorola sale much easier.
- 9/25/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
It depends on whom you ask as Wall Streeters look for hidden meaning in a letter that At&T sent to the FCC late last week. The issue at hand is excruciatingly technical: Regulators are considering whether to grant Dish additional time to provide broadband services on some spectrum it wants to buy. Without a waiver, Dish would have to serve 100M people within three years. At&T urged regulators to reject Dish’s plea, saying that the public would benefit from the fast build-out while a delay would “confer a substantial windfall on Dish.” What’s interesting is the possible subtext. Credit Suisse’s Stefan Anninger sees the letter as a clear sign that At&T is salivating over Dish’s spectrum following the collapse of the phone giant’s merger plan with T-Mobile. If the government imposes tough build out requirements on the satellite company then it ”could...
- 1/30/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
You can have your pick of rumors this morning about why COO Tom Rutledge suddenly decided to leave — and what it means for Cablevision’s future. Maybe he had a falling out with Charles and Jim Dolan, who control the No. 7 cable operator (including Verizon and At&T in the pack). Maybe Rutledge got a better offer to run Charter. Maybe the Dolans decided to try again to take Cablevision private — or to sell the company, logically to Time Warner Cable considering how many adjoining systems the companies have in the New York area. But since nobody really knows, investors are left to fear that the departure of one of the industry’s most respected operators means there’s trouble ahead: Cablevision shares opened down 13%. If that holds, then it would shave about $506M from the company’s market value and take the stock to its lowest point in more than two years.
- 12/16/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
It was a dreary day for the markets — but few were hit as hard as the digital entertainment technology company Rovi, formerly known as Macrovision. It told investors on a conference call last night that its analog copy-protection business is nearly kaput, and there’s been a steep decline in sales of consumer software such as its Roxio DVD burning product. Also, consumer electronics companies are just lukewarm on Rovi’s TotalGuide on-screen TV programming guide. Making things worse are the weakening global economy — it will “persist as a challenge for the Ce industry throughout 2012″ says CFO James Budge — and floods in Thailand that interrupted production of hard drives. That adds up to a financial forecast below most expectations. Who’ll lead Rovi out of the mess? Analysts thought they’d know by now; CEO Fred Amoroso said in May that he plans to leave this June. The company says...
- 11/9/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
Hulu's tongue-in-cheek Super Bowl ad this year described the free online TV site as an alien plot designed to melt our brains and destroy the world. Given the upheaval in traditional media these days, one might wonder whether the joke is becoming reality.After all, advertising dollars are increasingly moving away from broadcast television (if they're even being spent), and viewers are diversifying their entertainment sources, from video games to the Web to Netflix to their DVRs. But the Hulu ad might also hint at a way forward. "The best part is, there's nothing you can do to stop it," pitchman Alec Baldwin says of Hulu's coming world domination. "I mean, what are you going to do? Turn off your TV and your computer?" Certainly, no one's going to do that. The future of television, for better or worse, looks to be bound to the Internet. As viewership declines for...
- 10/14/2009
- backstage.com
New York -- Comcast has been hoarding cash to better manage its balance sheet, but investors worry that it could be building a war chest for a splashy acquisition similar to its failed 2004 bid for Disney.
Investors value shares of Comcast at close to historical lows, as the top U.S. cable service provider's conservative balance sheet strategy has rekindled speculation that it wants to be a major player in the media content market.
"When I talk to other investors, it's usually the first thing they ask about," said Chris Marangi, an analyst at Gabelli Co., which is long-term shareholder of Comcast. "They always bring up the 2004 bid Comcast made for Disney."
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made an audacious $54 billion bid for Disney five years ago, and the once traditional, family-run cable company has never quite shaken off the image of a media wannabe.
Investors worry that Comcast might use...
Investors value shares of Comcast at close to historical lows, as the top U.S. cable service provider's conservative balance sheet strategy has rekindled speculation that it wants to be a major player in the media content market.
"When I talk to other investors, it's usually the first thing they ask about," said Chris Marangi, an analyst at Gabelli Co., which is long-term shareholder of Comcast. "They always bring up the 2004 bid Comcast made for Disney."
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made an audacious $54 billion bid for Disney five years ago, and the once traditional, family-run cable company has never quite shaken off the image of a media wannabe.
Investors worry that Comcast might use...
- 8/17/2009
- by By Yinka Adegoke, Reuters
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In a case that could reverberate through the pay TV industry, EchoStar on Wednesday appealed a judge's decision that its software workaround still infringes patents held by TiVo.
Also Wednesday, EchoStar bought time on an order issued a day earlier that it must, within 30 days, disable more than 4 million DVRs used by customers of Dish Network, its sister company. EchoStar asked for and received a temporary stay of the order, gaining yet another reprieve in a case that has dragged on more than five years.
On Wednesday, though, investors behaved as if TiVo finally has defended its valuable DVR patents and will use its newfound leverage to pressure Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others into striking licensing deals -- presumably more lucrative than those TiVo has with Comcast, Cox and DirecTV.
TiVo shares soared 53% on Wednesday to $10.70, on trading volume 35 times higher than average, and Dish shares sank 10%.
The stay...
Also Wednesday, EchoStar bought time on an order issued a day earlier that it must, within 30 days, disable more than 4 million DVRs used by customers of Dish Network, its sister company. EchoStar asked for and received a temporary stay of the order, gaining yet another reprieve in a case that has dragged on more than five years.
On Wednesday, though, investors behaved as if TiVo finally has defended its valuable DVR patents and will use its newfound leverage to pressure Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others into striking licensing deals -- presumably more lucrative than those TiVo has with Comcast, Cox and DirecTV.
TiVo shares soared 53% on Wednesday to $10.70, on trading volume 35 times higher than average, and Dish shares sank 10%.
The stay...
- 6/3/2009
- by By Paul Bond
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It appears that the tech-focused, more complicated of Charlie Ergen's two satellite TV companies is the more impressive one, as far as Wall Street is concerned.
After EchoStar Communications and Dish Network reported second-quarter financial results Monday, shares of the former went higher while shares of the latter sunk lower.
The problem with Dish on Monday was more of the same: disappointing subscription metrics. This time, the company lost 25,000 net subscribers and blamed a weak economy as well as competitor DirecTV's push to lure customers away with an appealing HD package.
"This is the fourth quarter in a row of weak results from Dish," Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell said. "We had expected some stabilization. This has not happened."
He added that a 1.9% spike in churn is "one of the highest levels we have ever seen."
Dish, which now boasts 13.8 million subscribers compared with 17 million at DirecTV, posted net income of $335.9 million, up from $224.2 million a year ago. Revenue rose 5.6% to $2.91 billion.
Shares of Dish fell 3.6% on Monday to $27.91. Also weighing on the stock in recent months is At&T's intention to terminate a joint marketing relationship with Dish at year's end.
EchoStar, which sells set-top boxes and satellite services to Dish and other clients, fared better Monday. Dish and EchoStar split into two companies seven months ago, with Ergen being chairman and CEO of both.
EchoStar, which still relies on Dish for the bulk of its sales, swung to a second-quarter profit of $47.8 million compared with a loss of $14.8 million a year ago. Revenue rose 46% to $483.3 million.
Shares of EchoStar rose 1.5% on Monday to $32.48.
DirecTV is set to report earnings Thursday.
After EchoStar Communications and Dish Network reported second-quarter financial results Monday, shares of the former went higher while shares of the latter sunk lower.
The problem with Dish on Monday was more of the same: disappointing subscription metrics. This time, the company lost 25,000 net subscribers and blamed a weak economy as well as competitor DirecTV's push to lure customers away with an appealing HD package.
"This is the fourth quarter in a row of weak results from Dish," Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell said. "We had expected some stabilization. This has not happened."
He added that a 1.9% spike in churn is "one of the highest levels we have ever seen."
Dish, which now boasts 13.8 million subscribers compared with 17 million at DirecTV, posted net income of $335.9 million, up from $224.2 million a year ago. Revenue rose 5.6% to $2.91 billion.
Shares of Dish fell 3.6% on Monday to $27.91. Also weighing on the stock in recent months is At&T's intention to terminate a joint marketing relationship with Dish at year's end.
EchoStar, which sells set-top boxes and satellite services to Dish and other clients, fared better Monday. Dish and EchoStar split into two companies seven months ago, with Ergen being chairman and CEO of both.
EchoStar, which still relies on Dish for the bulk of its sales, swung to a second-quarter profit of $47.8 million compared with a loss of $14.8 million a year ago. Revenue rose 46% to $483.3 million.
Shares of EchoStar rose 1.5% on Monday to $32.48.
DirecTV is set to report earnings Thursday.
- 8/4/2008
- by By Paul Bond
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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