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News Corporation

5/23/2013, 9:23 PM ET

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Tuesday, May 21, 12:31 PM News Corp (NWS, NWSA) continues to be one of the most popular consumer service stock picks of hedge funds, according to Insider Monkey. The inside take is that despite a decent YTD 26% runup in share price, valuation is still reasonable with a pending split of the company looking promising. The latest hedgie to take a bite is Lone Pine Capital with an increased in its position to 22M shares. (13F) 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, 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, 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]
Tuesday, May 14, 7:52 AM News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) enters a partnership with Twitter that will see the Fox channel use the social network to advertise shows and distribute exclusive clips. The big picture: Gone are the days when media companies threw speculative dollars into Twitter just to see what would happen as the monetization of conversations on TV shows becomes more refined. ESPN, CBS, and NBC all plan to sell ads within Twitter-embedded videos - instead of just using Twitter as a linking source. Comment! [Consumer, Tech]
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]
Thursday, May 9, 9:03 AM Shares of News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) move up 3.6% premarket after the company sees strong revenue gains from television affiliates and cable channels lift its bottom line for FQ3. The broad organic growth from the media giant caught most analysts by surprise. Comment! [Consumer, On the Move]
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]
Tuesday, May 7, 9:19 PM Marissa Mayer (YHOO) held a preliminary talk with Hulu (DIS, CMCSA, NWS) execs about a bid for the video site, "numerous sources" tell Kara Swisher. Amazon (AMZN), Guggenheim Partners, and ex-News Corp. COO Peter Chermin (previous) are also said to be weighing bids. Yahoo was one of the companies offering to buy Hulu back in 2011, and with the French government having thwarted its Dailymotion bid, Hulu and its 4M+ premium subs might not be a bad backup plan. But much likely depends on the content rights Hulu's risk-averse old media owners are willing to give. 1 Comment [Tech, M&A, Consumer]
Monday, May 6, 1:48 PM The future of advertising is online video instead of the traditional 30-second TV spot, according to an interesting take from BTIG's Rich Greenfield. The analyst points to the effective ads on YouTube and Hulu from a number of high-profile companies, while the increasing use of DVRs is also a game changer. Though the broadcast industry (NWS, CMCSA, CBS) still pushes back over the claims, it's hard to argue that those still watching TV on the big screen in real times aren't more easily distracted than in the past with all the gadgets at their sides while ads sail by. (research report registration required) Comment! [Consumer]
Monday, May 6, 1:16 PM Aereo files legal papers seeking to bar CBS (CBS -0.2%) from suing it in new markets where it's looking to debut its re-transmission service. Barry Diller's startup is trying to lean on a favorable ruling in a New York court to set a precedent in other areas of the country. Though broadcasters including News Corp (NWS, NWS) Univision threaten to move to cable if Aereo proliferates, a protracted battle in the court system is probably their first option. Comment! [Consumer]
Monday, May 6, 5:20 AM The Senate looks poised to approve a bill today that would force online merchants to collect sales tax on Internet transactions. However, the measure will probably hit greater opposition in the House, where the leadership appears to be ambivalent, with Speaker John Boehner taking no public position. Companies in favor include Wal-Mart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN), while those against include News Corp (NWS) and eBay (EBAY). 2 Comments [Consumer, Top Stories]
Tuesday, April 30, 1:29 PM BTIG wants to know why major media companies aren't more focused on driving ratings higher by making content more accessible on platforms where competition is light. According to the investment firm, it's starting to feel like the obsession over protecting retransmission fees from cable/satellite operators is overriding the potential riches of growing advertising in new ways. (research report subscription required) Comment! [Consumer]
Tuesday, April 30, 11:08 AM Hulu (DIS, NWS, CMCSA) discloses at a media conference that it has doubled the number of paying subscribers to its Hulu Plus service to over four million in the last year. The media venture continues to stay relevant by resurrecting canceled shows (All My Children, One Life to Live), planning original content, and licensing popular shows. 1 Comment [Consumer]

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