ANALYST URGES CBS TO BUY SONY PICTURES

Only days after Sony Corp. CEO Kazuo Hirai maintained that he would not sell Sony Pictures (“It’s a profitable business to be in … and I like to have profitable businesses in my portfolio”), a prominent media analyst is saying that he finds it “difficult to imagine” that Sony would reject an offer, say in […]

CW PROGRAMS COMING TO NETFLIX

Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp., the owners of the CW Network, have signed a deal that will make the network’s programs available via Netflix’s streaming technology. Only content from previous seasons is included in the agreement, but the companies said that amounts to 700 hours of programming. (Episodes from the current season will become […]

MEDIA STOCKS PLUNGE

Amid growing pessimism about the economic recovery, media stocks plunged wildly after the market opened today (Tuesday). CBS Corp., which depends on advertising more than any other major media company, was hit hard in early trading, as its shares dropped nearly 6 percent but closed down 1.76 percent. But Sony Corp. did not experience a […]

CBS RALLIES, STOCK UP 10 PERCENT

CBS Corp., which was one of the companies hit hardest by the stock-market plunge on Friday and Monday, put on a show of strength in early trading today. Shares of the company rose more than 10 percent after Argus Research upgraded the rating on CBS stock to buy from hold. Media stocks in general rallied, […]

VIACOM EXECS HIGHEST PAID IN U.S. MEDIA

The three highest-paid media executives in 2010 all worked for companies controlled by Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements, the Los Angeles Times observed today (Monday) citing figures by Redwood City, CA., executive compensation research firm Equilar Inc. The three are Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, who drew the largest compensation package of any U.S. executive: $84.5 million; […]

REDSTONE’S BIRTHDAY PRESENT: $84 MILLION

Sumner Redstone on Thursday received a fine birthday present, two days before he turns 88. Viacom, home of Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, MTV, BET, TV Land, VH1 and Comedy Central, increased its quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share, up from 15 cents a share — a whopping 67 percent boost — which increases […]

CBS’S PROFITS SOAR

With ad sales picking up and the costs of laying off hundreds of employees no longer a factor on its current ledgers, CBS Corp. on Thursday was able to report a 53-percent improvement in earnings during the third quarter from a year ago. During an earnings call, CBS chief Les Moonves called the quarterly results […]