Aereo says under a new pricing plan subscribers can pay $8 per month for unlimited streaming of local broadcast programming and up to 20 hours of remote DVR storage. For an additional $4 per month, users can receive up to 60 hours of storage. The counter-attack: CBS (CBS +0.3%) is busy with legal maneuvers while ABC (DIS +0.1%) says it will launch an iOS app this week that allows residents in New York and Philadelphia to watch local stations live on their iPhones or iPads. [View news story]
CBS is stuck in the past... try to litigate the competition out of business... while Disney/ABC is moving forward by trying to capture some that revenue stream for themselves, and they can likely come up with additional features in the app that will make it more attractive than Aereo's offering.
Time for Chewbacca's solo: Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger drops a nugget on the CNBC crew during his post-earnings pep session. The exec says the company will develop stand-alone films using Star Wars characters with a slate of movies tentatively scheduled for release between 2015 and 2021. [View news story]
Just because those characters weren't well developed under Lucas (and his constant "revisioning" of the original films) doesn't mean that there isn't room to develop them further and base sequels (or TV shows or video games) around them and their backstories.
Time for Chewbacca's solo: Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger drops a nugget on the CNBC crew during his post-earnings pep session. The exec says the company will develop stand-alone films using Star Wars characters with a slate of movies tentatively scheduled for release between 2015 and 2021. [View news story]
Oh yeah... that movie (Episode III)... highly forgettable,a long with the rest of the prequels. Still trying to block them from my mind, and, apparently, partially succeeding. lol
I agree with the assessment that $4B for the franchise, along with Skywalker Sound, is going to be a long-term bargain. The possibilities for the theme park(s), alone, are endless. Disney can't capitalize on the Marvel characters because of the perpetual license that Universal holds, but they could take Star Wars to new heights of theme park heaven.
Time for Chewbacca's solo: Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger drops a nugget on the CNBC crew during his post-earnings pep session. The exec says the company will develop stand-alone films using Star Wars characters with a slate of movies tentatively scheduled for release between 2015 and 2021. [View news story]
Maybe we'll actually get to see the Wookie home world that we were supposed to see in Return of the Jedi!
The Star Wars universe has so many characters that the possibilities are practically endless.
The right-to-work issue in Michigan isn't going unnoticed by labor unions. UAW President Bob King was at the state's Capitol building leading a protest against legislation that would allows workers to opt out of unions and not pay dues. The state House passed the measure yesterday by 58-42, sending it along to the Senate. Though the Big Three are deathly quiet on the issue, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine weakened union laws in Michigan could help bottom lines. [View news story]
Not disputing that it makes little sense for the UAW to own a golf course. In fact, economically, they're losing their butts on the thing, but I do get tired of reading diatribes that contain incorrect information laid out as the absolute truth.
You should probably re-read the membership fees page... UAW member $1000 for self, $1800 for entire family (member, spouse, dependent children)... UAW retiree $800/$1400... general public $1200/$2000. $1800 for a year of golf for the entire family isn't that bad and beats the heck out of many other courses (granted, it's northern Michigan, the golf year is shorter there so it may not be a great deal).
Though the common refrain from analysts is that Disney (DIS) made out like bandits in its major content deal with Netflix (NFLX), Rocco Pendola isn't so sure. He prefers the Time Warner (TWX) model of building a digital content powerhouse internally and just selling the scraps to Netflix, Amazon, and other content channels. With ESPN in its back pocket, Disney has the clout to gets its own networks in front of plenty of households. Why empower Netflix? [View news story]
I fail to see Rocco's point (as usual)... Netflix OUTBID the incumbent, Starz, for the rights to those movies. It doesn't even get full access until 2015 but starts paying something along the lines of $300 million a year at contract start. Netflix is taking the risk here, not Disney.
The right-to-work issue in Michigan isn't going unnoticed by labor unions. UAW President Bob King was at the state's Capitol building leading a protest against legislation that would allows workers to opt out of unions and not pay dues. The state House passed the measure yesterday by 58-42, sending it along to the Senate. Though the Big Three are deathly quiet on the issue, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine weakened union laws in Michigan could help bottom lines. [View news story]
Why Disney Made A Great Choice Buying 'Star Wars' [View article]
You missed my point. Star Wars came out in 1977, 35 years ago, and the last movie came out in 2005. My 9 & 10 year olds certainly didn't learn about Star Wars at the theater. Instead, they picked up the universe via toys and videos. If Disney did nothing else with this purchase, yep, way over-priced, but they don't plan on standing pat. 3 new movies (done even remotely "right") will bring in a lot more revenue at box office, along with God-knows how many licensing deals. This is a long-term win, no doubt about it.
Agritourism Difficulties May Benefit Cedar Fair [View article]
As a park goer I fall into the group of people who think Fast Lane passes should not exist. I've taken lots of trips to Disney parks where Fast Pass is a free service designed to help spread the load and believe that Fast Lane has the opposite effect... at least as I saw it implemented at CP the other day. I was nearing the point of loading onto MaxAir when a large group of Fast Lane holders showed up and the ride operator allowed approximately 35 FLers to load before even starting to look to the rest of the guests. On that particular ride, that's over 50% of the load going to FL holders. I already mentioned the Maverick situation where 50% of the riders were FL holders. As an alternative to eliminating the program, raising the price significantly would probably be a reasonable alternative.
I'm not sure how they calculate the number of passes they'll sell each day, but if it's 15% of the tickets used that day, that's excessive, especially so on busy days. Maybe a decreasing % as the ticket sales go up, or a fixed number would work better.
When the family spends 12 hours (noon-midnight) at the park and only gets on 7 rides, something's not being handled correctly. I'll have a better handle on the park's operation next year when I have my season passes again and can judge things with a larger sample set, but I'm a little worried about guest satisfaction these days.
Agritourism Difficulties May Benefit Cedar Fair [View article]
Based on my trip to Cedar Point this past Saturday, the revenues are still streaming in. One positive for investors seemed to be the plethora of Fast Lane passes that were being used. At $50-65 per person over the cost of entry, that's a lot of incremental income. I am concerned that they may be over-selling the things though. On Maverick, for example, 1 of the 2 cars loading at any time were full of Fast Lane purchasers, significantly increasing (likely nearly doubling) the wait time for those not willing to shell out the extra bucks, like the 7 of us. If people start to feel like they have to pay for a Fast Lane ticket to get a decent return on their ticket investment, they may just opt to spend their money somewhere else. I'm giving Mr. Ouimet the benefit of the doubt for now, but I'm also keeping a close eye on that way park goers are treated, especially when they don't shell out double the admittance price.
Gotta love me some FUN. In with a basis around $23 so up nearly 50% and collecting those distributions to boot. Only downside was that I had to hold through the attempted Apollo fire-sale debacle to get to where I am today. Also did my bit to help with revenues since I just bought 6 Platinum passes for next year.
New Verizon Data Plans Can Help Pandora And Sirius XM [View article]
Well, duh... the hotspot IS the home network on that particular phone. Unlimited data for $60/month (effectively $30/month since already paying for data on the phone anyway) with speeds that outclass the offerings for a similar price.
At a minimum, the change means Verizon loses the $30/month hotspot and we have to spend more than that to replace the home network provided by that phone and at reduced speeds to boot.
New Verizon Data Plans Can Help Pandora And Sirius XM [View article]
You're proving his point... Verizon has done nothing to decrease the cost for those of us who currently have unlimited data plans. Their decision to roll-back our grandfathered plans unless we want to pay full price for our next phones is entirely aimed at driving up their revenue by forcing us onto shared plans with vastly reduced data consumption. Don't fool yourself into thinking that Verizon expects to reduce revenue with this change.
Current Data consumption: Wife's phone: 1 GB My phone: 2.5GB Hotspot phone: 37GB (last month anyway)
Tell me how ANY version of a shared data plan is going to save us money with the same data usage? The data usage alone is going to be approximately $400 a month.
Aereo says under a new pricing plan subscribers can pay $8 per month for unlimited streaming of local broadcast programming and up to 20 hours of remote DVR storage. For an additional $4 per month, users can receive up to 60 hours of storage. The counter-attack: CBS (CBS +0.3%) is busy with legal maneuvers while ABC (DIS +0.1%) says it will launch an iOS app this week that allows residents in New York and Philadelphia to watch local stations live on their iPhones or iPads. [View news story]
Time for Chewbacca's solo: Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger drops a nugget on the CNBC crew during his post-earnings pep session. The exec says the company will develop stand-alone films using Star Wars characters with a slate of movies tentatively scheduled for release between 2015 and 2021. [View news story]
Time for Chewbacca's solo: Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger drops a nugget on the CNBC crew during his post-earnings pep session. The exec says the company will develop stand-alone films using Star Wars characters with a slate of movies tentatively scheduled for release between 2015 and 2021. [View news story]
I agree with the assessment that $4B for the franchise, along with Skywalker Sound, is going to be a long-term bargain. The possibilities for the theme park(s), alone, are endless. Disney can't capitalize on the Marvel characters because of the perpetual license that Universal holds, but they could take Star Wars to new heights of theme park heaven.
Time for Chewbacca's solo: Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger drops a nugget on the CNBC crew during his post-earnings pep session. The exec says the company will develop stand-alone films using Star Wars characters with a slate of movies tentatively scheduled for release between 2015 and 2021. [View news story]
The Star Wars universe has so many characters that the possibilities are practically endless.
The right-to-work issue in Michigan isn't going unnoticed by labor unions. UAW President Bob King was at the state's Capitol building leading a protest against legislation that would allows workers to opt out of unions and not pay dues. The state House passed the measure yesterday by 58-42, sending it along to the Senate. Though the Big Three are deathly quiet on the issue, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine weakened union laws in Michigan could help bottom lines. [View news story]
You should probably re-read the membership fees page... UAW member $1000 for self, $1800 for entire family (member, spouse, dependent children)... UAW retiree $800/$1400... general public $1200/$2000. $1800 for a year of golf for the entire family isn't that bad and beats the heck out of many other courses (granted, it's northern Michigan, the golf year is shorter there so it may not be a great deal).
Though the common refrain from analysts is that Disney (DIS) made out like bandits in its major content deal with Netflix (NFLX), Rocco Pendola isn't so sure. He prefers the Time Warner (TWX) model of building a digital content powerhouse internally and just selling the scraps to Netflix, Amazon, and other content channels. With ESPN in its back pocket, Disney has the clout to gets its own networks in front of plenty of households. Why empower Netflix? [View news story]
The right-to-work issue in Michigan isn't going unnoticed by labor unions. UAW President Bob King was at the state's Capitol building leading a protest against legislation that would allows workers to opt out of unions and not pay dues. The state House passed the measure yesterday by 58-42, sending it along to the Senate. Though the Big Three are deathly quiet on the issue, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine weakened union laws in Michigan could help bottom lines. [View news story]
The one with the large "Public always welcome" flag at the top of the home page?
Why Disney Made A Great Choice Buying 'Star Wars' [View article]
Why Disney Made A Great Choice Buying 'Star Wars' [View article]
Why Disney Made A Great Choice Buying 'Star Wars' [View article]
Agritourism Difficulties May Benefit Cedar Fair [View article]
I'm not sure how they calculate the number of passes they'll sell each day, but if it's 15% of the tickets used that day, that's excessive, especially so on busy days. Maybe a decreasing % as the ticket sales go up, or a fixed number would work better.
When the family spends 12 hours (noon-midnight) at the park and only gets on 7 rides, something's not being handled correctly. I'll have a better handle on the park's operation next year when I have my season passes again and can judge things with a larger sample set, but I'm a little worried about guest satisfaction these days.
Agritourism Difficulties May Benefit Cedar Fair [View article]
Cedar Fair - Getting It Right [View article]
New Verizon Data Plans Can Help Pandora And Sirius XM [View article]
At a minimum, the change means Verizon loses the $30/month hotspot and we have to spend more than that to replace the home network provided by that phone and at reduced speeds to boot.
New Verizon Data Plans Can Help Pandora And Sirius XM [View article]
Our current plan:
1400 shared minutes w/ unlimited texting: $100
5 lines: $50
3 unlimited data plans: $90
1 4g hotspot: $30
Current Data consumption:
Wife's phone: 1 GB
My phone: 2.5GB
Hotspot phone: 37GB (last month anyway)
Tell me how ANY version of a shared data plan is going to save us money with the same data usage? The data usage alone is going to be approximately $400 a month.