Discovery profit up 46 percent, as it grows abroad
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Discovery Communications Inc reported a 46 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit on the back of strong distribution revenue and advertising sales in its international TV business.
Once again, Wednesday’s quarterly results from the parent of the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the Science Channel showed why it has weathered the ad downturn far better than most media companies.
Post Super Bowl: Ads, ads and more ads
It’s tempting, as a media reporter, to become incredibly cynical as the Super Bowl rolls around each February. Endless pitches, endless studies, endless clips sent by public relations departments in the days leading up the the game.
Here’s the thing though: Advertisers aren’t dummies. The $3 million they shell out for Super Bowl ads often pays off. Just think of all the stories that ran before the game in your local newspaper or on your local TV newscast (or here at Reuters.com). Or consider the party you attended yesterday — most people probably stayed in front of the TV set during timeouts. Hear much talk about Super Bowl ads today around the water cooler? Thought so.
Snickers, Doritos score extra points at Super Bowl
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Critics and academics can
complain all they want about low-brow Super Bowl commercials –
but the post-game polls show why advertisers go for easy laughs
when they shell out $100,000 for every second.
Nearly every post-game survey on Monday crowned Snickers,
Doritos, and Bud Light as champions in the annual advertising
extravaganza (and football game) that is the Super Bowl — and
all three relied on slapstick.
Alongside gags, Super Bowl ads plumb male psyche
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sidestepping the usual slapstick comedy and animal tricks, a number of advertisers tried to score during Sunday’s Super Bowl with commercials that tapped into men’s ambivalence with their everyday lives.
In the battle among advertisers, Unilever’s Dove, Chrysler LLC’s Dodge and Flo TV created early buzz with spots that clearly targeted men feeling overwhelmed by responsibility and commitment.
Signs of media recovery abound as earnings roll in
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Even the most creative media executives would have been hard pressed a year ago to conjure up a world of solid profits, soaring stock prices and cash stockpiles big enough to support higher dividend payouts.
Thanks to quarterly results from two powerhouses of the media business this week, that world is easier to picture. Time Warner Inc on Wednesday posted profit and revenue that beat expectations and raised its dividend. News Corp did the same late on Tuesday.
Next threat to Amazon’s $9.99 books? Rupert Murdoch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Enjoy $9.99 electronic books while you can — for they soon may be a thing of the past.
News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch, who oversees a media empire than includes HarperCollins books, home to authors like Michael Crichton and Janet Evanovich, made clear on Tuesday his displeasure with the low price Amazon.com Inc has set for electronic books.
AT&T profit rises 26 percent, plans more spending
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. consumers’ obsession with using smartphones to find restaurants, surf the web and navigate city streets helped propel a 26 percent rise in AT&T’s <T.N> quarterly profit — but at a cost for the operator.
The strain that wireless devices like smartphones and e-readers have placed on AT&T’s network is such that the company announced on Thursday it will increase capital spending by about $2 billion this year, targeting improvements in its wireless service.
AT&T earnings up 26 percent, driven by wireless
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) – AT&T <T.N> reported a 26
percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, fueled by wireless
subscriber additions, particularly among users of e-readers,
smartphones and netbook computers to the Web.
AT&T’s results reflect consumers’ willingness to pay to
read newspapers online, find restaurants, text with friends or
navigate city streets using mobile devices. AT&T added some 2.7
million net subscribers in the fourth quarter — nearly 1
million more than analysts predicted.
Is the Super Bowl losing its grip on the ad world?
NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) – The Super Bowl is still the prize of the advertising world, with companies paying up to $3.2 million for 30 seconds of commercial time, but more and more critics are questioning whether the pro football championship game is worth it.
“It’s so expensive to buy time and produce a Super Bowl ad, and you have so much competition and so many distractions, that you must hit an absolute home run to be able to get return on investment,” said Jim Cain, a senior vice president with brand communications firm Quell Group.
GameStop cuts profit view
NEW YORK (Reuters) – GameStop Corp <GME.N> said holiday sales failed to improve from 2008 and cut its fourth-quarter profit forecast on Thursday, sending shares of the biggest U.S. videogame retailer to a 13-month low.
Although the company blamed a woeful combination of a weak economy, bad weather and product shortages, other retailers had far less trouble overcoming winter storms and consumer worries, with Macy’s Inc <M.N> and Costco <COST.O> posting higher sales figures for the most important sales period of the year. [ID:nN07165754]
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