CABLE NETS DRIVING NEWS CORP PROFITS

Its Fox broadcast network may have a higher profile, but News Corp’s cable networks proved to be the driver of profits during its last quarter. The company reported that operating income at its cable outlets rose 17 percent to $993 million on revenue of $2.8 billion, largely as a result of solid ad sales for […]

SONY RETURNS TO THE BLACK AFTER FIVE YEARS

Sony Corp has posted its first full-year profit in five years, attributing much of its turn-around to the box office successes of its film and home-video divisions. The company reported full-year income of $458 million versus a loss of $5.7 billion a year ago. In particular the company cited the box-office success of The Amazing […]

FOX NEWS WINS RATINGS VOTE

It may have been a more strident voice in opposition to Barack Obama during the 2012 election campaign than Mitt Romney’s, but unlike Romney, Fox News turned out to be a big winner at the end of the day. In its quarterly report, released on Wednesday, News Corp reported that its cable unit, of which […]

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION TEETERS

The studio that brought you Shrek had a day on Wall Street that could be likened to dreck. Stock in DreamWorks Animation tumbled 3.8 percent to $16.75 — a tad above its 52-week low of $16.04 — following downgrades by analysts concerned about the studio’s announcement earlier in the day that it will be unable […]

2D FILMS HURT 3D LEADER REAL-D

3D is turning out to be something less than the expected “next big thing” for the movie industry. One need look no further for the reality of that statement, than the latest results of RealD, the principal company providing 3D technology for theaters and which benefits from the surcharges on 3D ticket sales. Filing its […]

DISNEY PROFITS DIP — BUT NOT AS BADLY AS EXPECTED

The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday reported a 6-percent dip in profits to $1.38 billion for its first quarter, down from $1.46 billion during the year-ago period. Analysts had predicted a somewhat steeper decline. Disney blamed it principally on lower revenue from home-video titles and on $321 million in charges related to a lawsuit brought […]

IT’S OFFICIAL: SKYFALL SETS BOND RECORD

While all eyes were focused on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 to see whether it would break box-office records (it didn’t; see separate item), Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond blockbuster, was continuing to rack up huge profits overseas, where, in its fourth week, it grossed an additional $49.6 million to bring its […]

DOWNTURNS AT CABLE, FILM HIT VIACOM

Sumner Redstone, the chairman of CBS and Viacom, got good news and bad about his two media companies on Thursday. On the one hand, CBS reported record profits in the last quarter; on the other hand, Viacom’s profits sank. The blow to Redstone’s older and larger media conglomerate might have been less troubling had its […]

TIVO REWINDS INTO A BIG LOSS

TiVo, the company whose name was once synonymous with digital video recorders, reported on Tuesday that it lost 223,000 subscribers in its last quarter, the second-worst quarter for subscriber losses that it has ever experienced. The company reported a loss of $34.4 million during the quarter versus a loss of $9.9 million for the comparable […]

NETFLIX SAYS IT’S NOW “PRIMARILY A STREAMING COMPANY”

Netflix, the online DVD renter said on Wednesday that it is growing faster than even it had anticipated and now expects to have 19.7 million subscribers signed up by the end of the year, up from its previous forecast of 17.7 million to 18.5 million, making it a serious rival of cable TV. In an […]

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