Lehman Launches Coverage of Central European Media Enterprises

A London-based analyst from Lehman Brothers launched coverage on CETV yesterday. I have uploaded a copy of his report. If you want to read it, go to the “Continue Reading” section and click the link. It is a pdf file and requires Adobe Acrobat to access. I plan to upload more brokerage reports in 2006 […]

NTL-Telewest Merger Receives Regulatory Approval

NTL Incorporated (NTLI) shares are rose sharply on Friday after the U.K. Office of Fair Trading cleared NTL’s merger with Telewest Global (TLWT). Apparently, there are no restrictions on the merged company beyond the regulations already in place governing telecom and media policy in the U.K. The Office rejected all the arguments that the merger […]

Chronicles of Narnia Performing Very Well for Disney

With the kids out of school and lots of folks on vacation, everyday is a Saturday for the box office, and Disney (DIS) looks like a big winner as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is established at the top of the charts bringing in around $9 million a day. […]

Czeching in on Central European Media Enterprises

received an email just before Christmas with an update on TV advertising in the Czech Republic. According to TNS A-Connect, during November advertising was up 17% on a year-over-year basis. I view the Czech Republic as one of the more mature TV advertising markets in Central and Eastern Europe, so this is a good sign […]

Continuing the Discussion of Cable Stocks

In response to my latest post on a la carte subscriptions in the cable industry, Rob Martorana, a colleague at StreetInsight.com, emailed me the following comment: On a completely different note, isn’t “on-demand” programming the ultimate form of a-la-carte pricing? And what happens when individual shows are available for $0.99 for one-time viewing? For those […]

This Weeks News at NTL

I’ve received several inquiries about the news stories, adjustment of the deal terms, and management changes at NTL Incorporated (NTLI) this week. Here is a quick recap: • The merger with Telewest (TLWT) was restructured so that technically TLWT is buying NTLI. This has no economic impact on either NTLI or TLWT shareholders as it […]

Knight-Ridder: Receiving Bids But Sale Process Slow

Reuters posted an update on the Knight Ridder (KRI) bidding process. The deal is described as “slow moving,” with multiple bidders and a timeline that extends to February. Price talk is the mid $60s to low $70s. The article is well informed, in my opinion. A deal at that level provides some downside support for […]

Cable Stocks Still Require Patience

I still like Comcast (CMCSA/K) and as I pointed out in the previous post the key to getting Time Warner (TWX) to close its valuation gap is an improved multiple for its cable division. This week has seen a few new developments on the cable scene but nothing that seems likely to boost multiples in […]

AOL-Google Deal Not That Big A Deal For Time Warner

I am generally unimpressed by the AOL-Google (GOOG) deal as far as Time Warner’s valuation is concerned. I value Time Warner (TWX) on a sum of the parts basis and due to the compression in multiples throughout media over the past year I just don’t see a huge valuation discount for TWX unless all media […]

Lots of Activity at NTL This Week

NTL (NTLI) has traded up steadily this week, extending its gains since it announced it was going to purchase Virgin Mobile. The Virgin deal is still being negotiated and I expect it to be completed, however, this week’s gains are due to more rumblings that private equity funds are interested in buying NTL after it […]