The underwriters of the National Cinemedia (NCMI) IPO launched coverage this week. NCMI is the largest company in the rapidly growing cinema advertising industry and is 22% owned by Regal Entertainment (RGC). RGC is widely held throughout the Northlake client base. In general, analysts are looking for modest additional upside in this well received IPO. […]
In yesterday’s Media Madness post on the Northlake Capital Management home page, I mentioned that Reuters stated that 40% of sub prime loans had been made to Hispanics. This had me wondering whether sub prime lenders were substantial advertisers on Hispanic radio and TV stations and networks. I don’t watch or listen to Hispanic media […]
A few small items in the media world that are cluttering up my desk: • Last week FCC Chairman Kevin Martin appeared before Congress for the first time since the Democrats took control. The questioning made it very clear that the FCC will face much different Congressional oversight until at least January 2009. Fortunately, the […]
In what should be good news for Comcast (CMCSA/K), the Wall Street Journal reported in its Weekend Edition that Comcast is unhappy with its current relationship with Google (GOOG). Under an agreement that expires at year end, Google provides search for Comcast.net. According to the Journal, Comcast is actively shopping its internet search relationship with […]
Apple (AAPL) held up well during the market pullback and now is leading to the upside, trading at its highest price since the breakdown following the December quarter earnings report in mid-January. I’ve written endlessly on Apple, as you can see if you click the AAPL link immediately below, so for another perspective here is […]
The Wall Street Journal had an article reviewing the latest data from TNS Media Intelligence, a firm that tracks media spending patterns. TNS recently reported that spending on “measured media” among the top 50 advertisers fell by 1.5% in 2006 despite the fact that overall ad spending rose by 4.1%. The difference in the two […]
Not to beat a dead horse but I wanted to follow-up on my post yesterday where I stated yet again that the hype that the domestic box office is dead or dying is off base. Here is a link to the annual domestic box office performance since 1980 courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com. Several things jump out […]
Did you hear the hype that the domestic movie business is dead? Don’t believe it. I wish I had 300 reasons to tell you why it isn’t dead but I can give you one — 300. 300 from the Warner Brothers division of Time Warner (TWX) broke box office records opening to $70 million, the […]
BroadbandTV News yesterday noted an unconfirmed report in a local Russian newspaper that Central European Media Enterprises (CETV) was negotiating to enter the Russian TV market. The target is supposedly a music station that competes with MTV Russia. I have no idea if there is any truth to this rumor but if it were accurate, […]
As usual, Ned Davis Research (NDR) has some interesting data on last week’s sell-off in regards to answering the question whether we have entered a bear market. Defining a bear market as a 30% drop in the DJIA after 50 calendar days, a 13% decline in the DJAI over 145 calendar days, or a 30% […]
