Broadcasting

Hughes falls to Murdoch

10 Apr 2003

GM has spent the best part of two years trying to better News Corp's bid for its satellite broadcaster. Now it has admitted defeat. News Corp, for its part, has pulled off a smooth coup. Its balance sheet allows it to swallow Hughes up without straining.

News Corp issues $1.35bn Sky exchangeable

18 Mar 2003

On past form, that won't come at the expense of News Corp's influence over BSkyB. Rupert Murdoch continues to clean up his balance sheet, this time refinancing a convert issued in 1996.

BSkyB’s profit doubles

14 Feb 2003

More subscribers, contributing higher revenues per head, have kept the satellite broadcaster's earnings growing like stink. But remember that Sky's towering share price assumes it can keep this up for the rest of the decade. Is it reality check time yet?

Is Reuters doomed to shrink?

13 Feb 2003

Investors are braced for grim results from the information provider. The stock is priced for an inexorable decline in the business. So it is cheap if you are bold enough to punt on market recovery, geared via banks' hiring policies and Tom Glocer's turnaround skills.

Racy ratings but revenue falls at Carlton, Granada

10 Feb 2003

The oddities of TV advertising mean that Britain's commercial broadcasters are winning the ratings war, but losing the battle for revenue. Longerterm, shining ratings offer some comfort that Carlton and Granada can at least slow their inevitable market share decline.

Time to rein in BBC competition

17 Jan 2003

The law says the BBC is exempt from competition regulation. That doesn't stop its lavishlyfunded free content squeezing rivals' margins. The British government's decision to review the BBC is an unmissable chance to drag it into some kind of competition regime.

Don’t blame Case for AOL’s massive value destruction

13 Jan 2003

Time Warner's old guard have splendidly vilified Case. But they are the ones who accepted his wildly inflated stock three years ago. AOL shareholders actually have much to thank Case for. Buying Time Warner made them relatively better off.

WestLB and Viacom plot Carlton counterbid – report

13 Jan 2003

The owner of CBS is said to covet Carlton, apparently in order to negotiate better merger terms with Granada than current management has. Don't bank on it. Carlton shareholders really would be in luck if Viacom were optimistic enough to want to pay them a premium.

DT cable is only a utility

8 Jan 2003

In September 2001, Liberty Media was prepared to pay E5.5bn for Deutsche Telekom's remaining cable business. Now it may just fetch E2bn. This isn't just falling cable valuations. When it blocked the Liberty bid, the German Cartel Office redefined these businesses as a utility.

Bondholders fetter new NTL

2 Jan 2003

The cable company has rejigged its planned new $500m loan facility, adding conditions that will seriously limit management's discretion. Who's providing the facility, and insisting on the conditions? NTL's new shareholders. They clearly don't trust management an inch.

Sky routs the trustbusters

17 Dec 2002

Before investors get too enthusiastic, they should remember Sky's share price still discounts very racy future growth. A year ago, the broadcaster faced a string of threats. Now the UK trustbuster has abandoned its investigation, they have all gone away.

Sky routs the trustbusters

17 Dec 2002

Is short-selling the new insider trading?

10 Dec 2002

Share prices have been mysteriously falling in the days running up to accelerated share sales. Shorting ahead of glaringly obvious deals may be legitimate. But companies and banks must mind how they go about share sales.

Is short-selling the new insider trading?

10 Dec 2002

Madrid’s Terra Networks is a firm on shaky ground

1 Nov 2002

HVB and Bauer to buy Kirch Media

31 Oct 2002

Foreign bidders, including former Kirch shareholders, have lost out in the sale of Germany's leading broadcaster. They didn't have the locals' stomach for paying a fat price.

HVB and Bauer to buy Kirch Media

31 Oct 2002

Vivendi rejects Vodafone’s Cegetel offer

30 Oct 2002

Vodafone's E6.8bn bid for the conglomerate's 44% of Cegetel is inadequate "as it stands", says the conglomerate. Vodafone remains adamant that it wont pay a penny more. Really?

Vivendi rejects Vodafone’s Cegetel offer

30 Oct 2002

And two points for a conversion

17 Oct 2002