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5/23/2013, 3:07 PM ET

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Thursday, May 23, 12:59 PM Summer studio watch: 1) Sony (SNE): The studio has seven films coming, but no sure-fire winners although After Earth could be the sleeper in the crowd. Daniel Loeb will be watching. 2) Warner Bros: (TWX) Though bad reviews are a major risk for The Hangover Part III, Man of Steel is forecast to be major hit across demographics. If Superman delivers, a refreshed franchise could boost forecasts for TWX. 3) Universal (CMCSA): Studio heads could roll if Fast & Furious 6 and RIPD don't deliver the macho audience in a crowded field. 4) Disney (DIS): Iron Man 3 is expected to have strong legs into the summer while The Lone Ranger looks more susceptible to disappoint with it debuting up aside Despicable Me 2. Pixar's Monsters University also hits screens. (box office projections) Comment! [Consumer]
Wednesday, May 22, 1:03 PM The Xbox One is far from the future of television unless cable providers (CVC, CMCSA, CHTR, TWC) can work with Microsoft to create a superior video product that captures market share from satellite players (DISH, DTV), according to BTIG's Rich Greenfield. Under the status quo, the Xbox One only offers a clunky way to control the TVs and DVRS of consumers without a complex home configuration. Greenfield says an edge exists for the cable industry, as long as it works quick before the Apple Television launch or an improved Google TV product is debuted. Comment! [Tech, Consumer]
Tuesday, May 21, 1:54 PM Though MSO operators (TWC, CVC, CMCSA, CHTR) all offer subscribers a broadband-only subscription, so far the group seems to be doing an adequate job upselling customers to bigger packages to prevent wide-scale cord cutting on pay TV services. The trend is not without an assist from broadcasters that are only allowing authenticated consumers from pay TV providers to watch their series online and on mobile devices. Still, execs do acknowledge that cities with younger consumers tend to favor broadband-only packages meaning the industry could see a problem sometime in the future keeping its finger in the dike. Comment! [Consumer]
Friday, May 17, 4:11 PM DirecTV (DTV) has joined the ranks of companies weighing a bid for Hulu (DIS, NWS, CMCSA), with an eye towards expanding its arsenal of TV Everywhere content, the WSJ reports. The scoop shortly follows a report Time Warner Cable and other MSOs are talking about a possible bid. Comment! [Tech, Consumer, M&A]
Friday, May 17, 9:44 AM Hulu (NWS, DIS, CMCSA) could be even more valuable than people think due its rich user experience and advanced advertising system, reasons BTIG's Rich Greenfield. The analyst isn't convinced a cable industry joint venture would work well, but says he could make the case why almost any large media/tech company (Google?) could use Hulu to position itself in the "rapidly fragmenting" video world. Comment! [Consumer, Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 1:29 PM More on Time Warner Cable (TWC -1.8%) - Hulu (previous): If Time Warner Cable takes a minority stake in Hulu it will become strange bedfellows with rival Comcast (CMCSA -1%) which owns roughly a third of the company - but the combination could energize the concept of nationally branded TV Everywhere platform, analysts say. Sources indicate another pay-TV company is also considering making a bid for Hulu. Stay tuned. Comment! [Consumer, M&A]
Thursday, May 16, 9:57 AM Amazon (AMZN +0.4%) keeps adding to its portfolio of video content by signing a new deal with Comcast (CMCSA -0.4%) for shows from NBC and other NBCUniversal networks. As is standard, the shows will be available on Prime Instant Video several months after they originally air. 4 Comments [Consumer]
Thursday, May 16, 7:00 AM Time Warner Cable (TWC) is in talks with other cable companies about making a bid for Hulu (DIS, CMCSA, NWS), according to the New York Post. If the cable companies can land control of Hulu they have the option of turning it into an authenticated service for paying cable customers. 1 Comment [Consumer, Tech]
Wednesday, May 15, 4:46 PM Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) declares $0.195/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.78%. For shareholders of record July 3. Payable July 24. Ex-div date July 1. (PR) Comment! [Dividends]
Wednesday, May 15, 11:41 AM Senator Mark Warner calls the bluff of broadcasters (CMCSA, CBS, DIS, NWS, NWSA) threatening they will pull their major networks off the air to cable if Aereo isn't stopped in courtroom battles by noting FCC broadcast licenses could be pulled in that scenario. With Aereo growing around like the country like a weed, and the proposed Television Consumer Freedom Act including a ban on networks converting to cable, the headaches of the industry have become a little more pronounced. Don't expect CBS head honcho Les Moonves to stay quiet on the latest development. 4 Comments [Consumer]
Wednesday, May 15, 9:37 AM An interesting development from the upfront meetings in New York City is the strong presentation by Univision in front of media buyers as the Spanish-language network makes the case for higher advertising rates due to its defeat of NBC in the sweeps period and the high rate of Latino growth in the U.S. What to watch: Univision is increasingly a force to be reckoned with and could take a little bit of bargaining power away from NBCUniversal (CMCSA) and CBS (CBS) during the upfront confab. (Bloomberg video) 2 Comments [Consumer]
Monday, May 13, 7:30 AM Broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC will settle for the lowest round of average rate hikes in three years during the "upfront" selling season, according to industry watchers. Though the expected increase in ad rates of 6% sounds fairly lush, annual rate increases were in the double digits only two years ago before the impact of streaming alternatives and a step up in cable programming was fully felt. Upfront ad rate forecast: CBS +6.5%, ABC (DIS) +6%, Fox (NWS, NWSA) + 5.5%, NBC (CMCSA) +5%. Comment! [Consumer]
Friday, May 10, 2:18 PM The Television Consumer Freedom Act backlash: 1) The bill introduced by Sen. John McCain is getting lots of attention from the cable industry, uniting big cable giants such as Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) with smaller regional cable companies. 2) Beyond just attempting to force a la carte cable pricing, the legislation also seeks to bar broadcasters from converting to cable networks to avoid tech upstarts like Aereo. 3) The icing on the cake might be what McCain wants to do with sports. The bill calls for banning sports blackouts (bad for DirecTV's (DTV) Sunday Ticket?) and would create havoc with new "super" conferences that are banking on big cable revenue for bundled access (bad for Time Warner (TWX) and New Corp (NWS)?) 2 Comments [Consumer]
Friday, May 10, 9:00 AM NBC is out with an announcement on the five new shows it will debut in the fall with a bigger focus on comedy sitcoms. The network has two sure-fire hits on its schedule with NFL football and The Voice, but desperately needs more support from other shows after it flopped to fifth place in the network ranking late last year. The ranking slump didn't go unnoticed by parent company Comcast (CMCSA) which as of March owns all of NBCUniversal. 1 Comment [Consumer]
Thursday, May 9, 3:05 PM Senator John McCain officially introduces the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 in Congress in a milestone for the movement toward "a la carte" cable market pricing for consumers. On the floor of the Senate, McCain singled out Comcast's (CMCSA -0.9%) NBC and Disney's (DIS +1.1%) ESPN-ABC family of channels as examples of media concerns forcing consumers to pay for bundled channels they don't want. Analysts think the combined heft of the broadcasting industry stands a good chance of keeping McCain's bill spinning in place. (full bill) 9 Comments [Consumer]
Thursday, May 9, 8:04 AM Senator John McCain will introduce legislation shortly to overhaul the TV business by giving consumers the option to buy channels on an individual basis (a la carte) - instead of seeing only large bundles as options. The politician will face fierce resistance from broadcast (NWS, DIS, CMCSA, CBS, AMCX, SNI, OUTD, DISCA, VIAB) and cable companies (CVC, CHTR, TWC) but may have a friend in upstart Aereo which has been rankling a few feathers as well. (Aereo timeline) 28 Comments [Consumer]

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