Every so often, poetry blossoms through the doldrums of otherwise stuffy corporate financial conference calls, where imagery and alliteration take a back seat to requests to “drill down” into earnings data.

Asked if their plan to stop paying a dividend masks some ominous inability to pay its debts, Warner Music Group Edgar Bronfman Jr. summoned his inner storyteller to assuage investors fears…

“Given the uncertain economic environment — as we look at what levers do we want to pull as we sail our ship, that no matter what currents run under the water or winds blow above the water, we are going to be nowhere near the shoals or the rocks we don’t anticipate.”

Nice, eh? Soothing even.

Okay, Shakespeare, it aint. But hey, don’t forget, Bronfman has written music performed by the likes of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand and Dionne Warwick. He may not be able to get Madonna back on his roster, but a co-written hit tune?

Not impossible…

(Photo: Reuters file)

Now that Microsoft has broken off its pursuit of Yahoo, the only thing we know for sure is that those two technology icons will not be merging (right now). Every other possibility and option for the two companies is up in the air. (One thing is for sure, Yahoo’s stock is already down more than 20 percent .)

There are no shortage of opinions:

** Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer is “under the gun” to spend the $46 billion earmarked for Yahoo. (New York Post)

** Yahoo’s Jerry Yang and his crew were “elated” when Microsoft withdrew its offer — but their joy may be short-lived. (Los Angeles Times) (NOTE - Yang in his own blog vaguely addresses reports of celebration breaking out in Yahoo’s camp:  “No one is celebrating about the outcome of these past three months… and no one should.”)

** There is no clear idea of a quick fix for Microsoft, as “the center of gravity in computing continues to move away from the personal computer, Microsoft’s stronghold, and to the Internet.” (New York Times)

** Yahoo shouldn’t abandon its proposed search deal with Google. (Silicon Alley Insider)

Even Jerry Yang has some thoughts :

Has this experience changed us? Of course, it has. We’ve emerged a stronger, more focused company with an even greater sense of purpose.

 Shareholders don’t seem to hold the same opinion today. What do you think Microsoft and Yahoo will do next?

(Reuters)

Keep an eye on:

• Warner Bros to Take Over Daytime Programming for The CW (Broadcasting & Cable)
• Cablevision’s $650 million bid for Newsday includes the newspaper’s real estate, and therefore the difference between its offer and offers from Mort Zuckerman and Rupert Murdoch smaller than it first appears. (New York Times)

(Photo: Reuters)

Youtube video we wish existed: Sumner Redstone rocking out on “Rock Band” to the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” or Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.”

In the meantime we can assume that Viacom’s octogenarian executive chairman is rockin’ today after the media conglomerate said its first quarter profit rose 33 percent on strong sales of the “Rock Band” video game and higher advertising revenue at MTV Networks. Revenue rose 15 percent to $3.1 billion, beating analysts’ estimate of $3 billion.

It gets even better in the Viacom executive suite, at least for today — its film “Iron Man” kicks off the summer blockbuster season to positive reviews, including that of tough Wall Street Journal reviewer Joe Morgenstern who said it had “exhilarating” action and “scintillating” comedy.

Industry gurus suggest the opening box-office take could top $100 million. Ka-ching! (It cost $135 milion to make.)

The good news does not negate lingering issues at Viacom, namely the resiliency of its cable networks in an advertising environment that is challenging at best. Also, everyone wants to know more about the new premium cable/VOD enterprise being built by Viacom, MGM and Lionsgate.

Or, what about the risk of collapsing the distribution window so that Apple’s iTunes sells movies on a DVD’s release date?

I just want to know: would Redstone rather jam to David Bowie or Blue Oyster Cult?

(Reuters)

Keep an eye on:

• Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer says the company poised to detail its next moves on Yahoo (Reuters)
• A night after Tuesday’s much-discussed on-air blunder by “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul, the results show of the talent show lost 1.2 million viewers from the previous week. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Is Microsoft working on a Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360? (Engadget)

(Photos: Sumner Redstone and wife Paula Fortunato, Reuters; www.rockband.com)

Time Warner Inc’s plan to split off its cable services division – widely expected by many and welcomed by some — raises just as many questions as it answers.

When is the split going to take place, for instance? And how? And what does this mean for AOL? Is it next up for a separation? Remember, Time Warner has already held discussions to merge the AOL unit with Yahoo Inc.

(Speaking of which, The Wall Street Journal says Microsoft could be making its next move in the takeover saga for Yahoo as early as Wednesday. One possibility: nominate a proxy slate of directors to replace the board at Yahoo. Also, Microsoft has considered earnmarking $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo employees should it win the company, Reuters says.)

At Time Warner, meanwhile, splitting off of the cable services division would mark the latest move by CEO Jeffrey Bewkes to revamp the company, whose stock price has lost a third of its value since the beginning of 2007.

Despite his efforts, first quarter earnings fell slightly more than expected. The breakdown: cable services were strong, with revenue up 8 percent, and AOL struggled, with revenue down 23 percent.

Keep an eye on:

• Paramount Pictures, which last year cast its lot exclusively with the ill-fated HD DVD home video format, enters the Blu-ray world with titles “Face/Off,” “Next” and “Bee Movie”. (Hollywood Reporter)
• A committee to protect editorial integrity at The Wall Street Journal said it will be more active in the search of a new managing editor for the paper after being blindsided by the resignation of Marcus Brauchli (Reuters)
• CBS Corp and NBC Universal plan to bid for the Weather Channel in the second round of bidding due in early to mid-May, sources say (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

Things could get complicated soon in the saga of Microsoft’s quest to acquire Yahoo, since the software makers deadline for what was origianlly seen as a friendly deal — at the right price — passed this weekend without Yahoo saying “I Do.”

Now, that amicable offer could get downright hostile. Analysts say they believe Microsoft is planning to launch a hostile bid at its current price of $31 per share in cash and stock.

Three weeks ago, Microsoft said it will go hostile, or even call off its bid, if Yahoo did not agree to a deal before this past weekend. Now, Microsoft executives are poised to play their next card.

(Reuters)
(WSJ)

Keep an eye on:

• Teen Star Miley Cyrus apologozed for posing seminude in provacative photos. Disney Disney Channel backed up the rising star, saying — “a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines.” (Reuters )
• “The Takeaway”, a rival pulics radio morning show, launchs, adding a little competition for the popular news show “Morning Edition.” (WSJ)
• Grand Theft Auto IV’ may drive up Electronic Arts’ bid for Take-Two (Los Angeles Times) (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

UPDATE - Bloomberg told a press conference on Monday that he is not entering the newspaper business, saying:

“I am not a newspaper person.“

Could New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg someday become New York Times Publisher Michael Bloomberg? (pictured on left, with Pope Benedict)

While it’s not a new idea, most media outlets — present company included — are all abuzz over the idea, and it has been reported that aides are whispering to Bloomberg he should merge Bloomberg LP, the financial news organization he created, with the Times.

The new smolderings come as the paper’s parent company feels pressure from dissident shareholders to spark advertising sales and dump assets to bolster its share price.

The press excitement is partly fed by the wrestlemania-ish notion of a Bloomberg-run media empire tackling Rupert Murdoch’s media kingdom. Murdoch himself has made no secret about giving the Times a run for its audience with the beefed up political news now appearing in his Wall Street Journal.

The idea of Bloomberg-as-rescuer has been bandied about before, the Washington Post points out, by the likes of Jim Cramer, Michael Wolff, and others.

But with the clock ticking on Bloomberg’s political career — his mayoral stint ends next year, although he could still seek higher office — the New York Daily News notes that it remains unclear where he will “devote his managerial prowess and $11.5 billion fortune.”

For the record, the Times tells us the company’s controlling Ochs-Sulzberger clan still believes in its current capital structure as the best way to keep the paper independent and full of editorial integrity.

(New York Post)

(Reuters)

Keep an eye on:

• USA Today publisher Gannett posted a drop in quarterly profit because of falling print advertising sales. (Reuters)
• Sumner Redstone’s Viacom will launch a premium TV and movie channel with Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, aiming a direct volley at Time Warner’s HBO as well as Redstone’s own Showtime networks owned by CBS. (Reuters)
• Deepak Nayar, behind such films as “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Bend it Like Beckham,” and Sandy Grushow, the former chairman of Fox Television Entertainment, are launching Filmaka (http://www.filmaka.com), a new kind of studio that uses the Web to cultivate the next great talents. (Reuters)
• MySpace promotes Jeff Berman to the new post of president of sales and marketing. His role as Fox Interactive Media’s social net’s ad sales came as part of a reorganization that decentralizes advertising. (PaidContent)

(Photo: Reuters)

“It’s a success! Now what?”

Yahoo may be ready to turn over its Web search advertising to Google following a successful test using Google’s service to deliver ads alongside its Web search results. But that’s only the beginning of what could be a swirl of deals. Or Not.

The way PaidContent sees it , if this alternative stands, and then, say, AOL merges with Yahoo, then the Google-Yahoo arrangement may have to pass anti-trust muster. And regulators are likely to give a thumbs up, TechCruch says, adding this rosy tidbit:

Everyone, even Yahoo, realizes that a Google search deal is a slow but certain death for the company.

That is unless Microsoft buckles and ups its $31 a share offer.

What do you think will happen to Yahoo?

(Wall Street Journal)

Keep an eye on:

• Thomson Reuters debuted on Thursday as a leading global information company, hoping a portfolio of products from financial to legal and health-care will help it ride out a financial industry downturn. (Reuters)
• Universal Studios will soon release all its new videos on the victorious Blu-ray rival at the same time as its standard DVDs. Universal’s Blu-ray strategy includes plans to release about 40 titles in the second half of the year. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Google’s troubling trend of slowing click growth has Wall Street worried the Internet giant will fall short of forecasts when it reports first-quarter results later today. (NY Post)
• PepsiCo has dumped the agency that had been handling its massive Gatorade and Tropicana accounts for the past six years, throwing that agency’s future into question. (WSJ)

(Photo: Reuters)

Another day, another story about job cuts and cost cutting in the publishing business.

This time its the New York Times, where an offer of voluntary buyouts may turn into involuntary dismissals.

Back in February, the company said it would eliminate 100 newsroom jobs amid the weakening economy and declining revenues from advertising and circulation. An attempt was made to keep the move bloodless but that didnt quite work. In an internal memo, assistant managing editor Bill Schmidt said the number of people expected to take buyouts likely won’t meet the 100 target.

This comes in the wake of other publishers job actions, including The Modesto Bee , a McClatchy paper, where about one-quarter its 455 employees were offered buyout packages in every division, although the company says the buyouts will affect a “very small” number of the newsroom’s 90-plus employees and thus should have a minimal impact on readers.

Also, Newsweek  is reportedly shrinking its rank and file as 111 staffers on its news and business sides accepted a buyout.

By the way, Radar has a list of those who took the New York Times buyout offer, including Pulitzer Prize winners John Noble Wilford and David Cay Johnston, and Linda Greenhouse, the newspaper’s legendary Supreme Court correspondent.

(WSJ )

Keep an Eye on:

• Mario Gabelli, one of Media General’s largest shareholders, said he plans to vote for a slate of directors nominated by a dissident shareholder looking to make changes at the struggling media company. (AP via Star Tribune)
• Hollywood director Barry Sonnenfeld fears that children today will grow up with “no concept of the right to privacy and in fact not understand the need for it.” (Hollywood Reporter )
• Yahoo may have started gaining share in the Web search ad market against Google even as Google’s share of search audience inched up. (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

According to the Publishers Information Bureau, advertising revenue for magazines declined in the first quarter, hurt by the automobile industry’s continued troubles and concerns about the economy. Total revenue fell 1.2 percent to $5.2 billion, down 1.2 percent, with pages down 6.4 percent.

Ad page declines were felt in Automotive; Technology and Home Furnishings & Supplies, while ad pages gained Food & Food Products, Retail and Media & Advertising.

Business and news magazines took it on the chin too. Ad pages for BusinessWeek tumbled 19.4 percent in the quarter while rival Forbes dipped 13.2 percent, and Fortune declined by 1 percent.

The bad ad pages news also hit news magazines such as Newsweek and Time, and U.S. News & World Report.
(Mediaweek)
(New York Post)

Keep an eye on:

• CNET Networks plans to debut in-depth news and information on 11 industry sectors on its business manager Web site BNET.com. (Reuters)
• Google’s US search-query volume growth accelerated modestly in March, which suggests that Google will likely meet or exceed analysts recently reduced estimates. (AlleyInsider)
• We are the Chicago Sun-Times: We going to be profitable! Roger Ebert is coming back! So buy the company! (Chicago Tribune)
• David Bowie, Blondie and Gnarls Barkley publisher Chrysalis Group said on it had ended talks with would-be buyers after rejecting a 104 million pound ($205.4 million), 155 pence-per-share cash offer. (Reuters)
• News Corp plans to raise its stake in Premiere AG to the 25 percent to 26 percent range. (WSJ )
• Time Warner to cut 450 New Line jobs. (Reuters )
• AOL buys blog content engine Sphere. (TechCrunch )

(Photo: Reuters)

Did the strike hurt NBC’s wallet?

In a first quarter where scripted programming was severely limited by the effects of the lengthy Hollywood writers strike, NBC Universal managed to boost its revenue by 3 percent to $3.58 billion, and increase it profit also by 3 percent. But it fell far short of its target of 5-10 percent profit growth.

The truth is, NBC was a bright spot in a surprisingly weak quarterly financial report of parent General Electric, whose overall results were hurt by the soft economy. GE has so far said little about the catalyst or troubles of its media arm which has been struggling since favorites “Friends” and “Frasier” ended their runs four years ago and faces particularly intense pressure to rebound. NBC could again finish the season last in the ratings race behind Fox, ABC and CBS.

It’s possible the profit and revenue gains were the result of cost-cutting. Or, despite Bruce Springsteen’s assertion that there are “57 Channels and Nothin’ On”, maybe TV lovers, you know, love TV, no matter what is on — even if it is a never-ending stream of reality programs such as “Deal or No Deal” and “The Apprentice.”

Fortune suggests that the results may fuel cries for GE to spin off or sell its media holdings.

(Reuters)

UPDATE: Here’s what GE executives said about NBC Universal on the conference call they held with investors Friday morning:

• Its shows have been performing pretty well and NBC prime time is on track to finish number two.
• Local ad spending was down 11 percent, “an indicator that it’s tough out there.”
• In cable, “USA was No. 1 for the seventh consecutive quarter.”
• MSNBC had its highest-rated quarter in six years.
• Ratings at CNBC Business Day were the highest in seven years
• Film “had a very strong quarter,” and operating profit was up, principally driven by the this year’s DVDs.

Keep an eye on:

• Yahoo may have played its top two cards by pulling out possible deals with AOL and Google, but it does not seem to have changed Wall Street’s view that Microsoft will eventually win the takeover battle. (Reuters)
• Blockbuster is developing a set-top device for streaming films directly to TV sets and is expected to announce the offering sometime this month. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Facebook has hit 70 million users. It still trails MySpace, but is growing fast: Last summer, Facebook hit 30 million active users. (AlleyInsider)
• Is Katie Couric simply overpaid? (Time)

(Photo: Reuters)