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CTAM SmartBrief
November 4, 2009
 

Business News

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Cablevision shows big increase in third-quarter earnings
Buoyed by subscriber additions for services such as phone and high-speed Internet, Cablevision reported third-quarter revenue increased 5.3%, to $1.84 billion, and earnings came in at $98.9 million, compared with $30.9 million in the year-earlier period. Cablevision's Rainbow unit, which houses networks such as AMC, IFC and WE tv, said revenue and operating income were up 3.5% and 82.7%, respectively. The Wall Street Journal (11/4)

Viacom's cable nets see affiliate fees rise 10% in Q3
Viacom reported that the affiliate fees paid to its top networks such as MTV, VH1 and BET rose 10% in the third quarter, to $728 million, and that advertising trends were beginning to improve. Overall, the company said revenue dipped 3% while profit came in 15% higher, to $463 million. NYTimes.com (11/3) Reuters (11/3)

Revenue, ad sales rise in Discovery's Q3
Discovery Communications announced that overall revenue and ad sales increased 5% in the third quarter to $522 million and $261 million, respectively. The company also reported net profit was $101 million during the period. OneTRAK (11/3) Mediaweek (11/3)

Other News

Programming News

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USA wins weekly viewership crown, but ESPN rules in demos
USA averaged 3.47 million prime-time viewers during the week that ended Nov. 1, making it the most-watched, ad-supported cable network during that period. While USA won the overall viewership crown, ESPN's lineup of professional and college football won the day in the 25-to-54, 18-to-49 and 18-to-34 demographic groups. Mediaweek (11/3)

Turner readies truTV for Asian rollout in early 2010
Turner Broadcasting early next year will launch its truTV programming service across the Asian continent. The service predominantly will target men and women ages 29 to 39 and will feature nonscripted series and nonfiction crime shows, according to Ian Carroll, executive vice president of Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific. Variety (subscription required) (11/3)

"Bridezillas," "My Fair Wedding" come on strong for WE
The sixth-season finale of WE tv's "Bridezillas" this past Sunday attracted 493,000 women between the ages of 25 and 54, the network's historical high-water mark with that demo. Additionally, the network's "My Fair Wedding With David Tutera" is up 43% in household ratings so far this season. TVWeek.com/TVBizwire (11/3)

Other News

Eye on Video

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Web site to offer independent analysis of VOD content
Sundance Channel veteran Britt Bensen has co-founded a Web site named ondemandweekly.com, which will take an independent look at VOD content options, initially concentrating on the menus of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. "As fans of video on demand, we realized there wasn't an independent voice covering all that VOD has to offer," Bensen said. Multichannel News (11/3)

Is Blu-ray the saving grace of home entertainment?
While DVD sales and rentals have slowed, entertainment-industry executives are turning to the Blu-ray format as the saving grace for home entertainment in the near-term. Sales of Blu-ray players have spiked 112% this year, and consumer-electronics giant Best Buy expects to sell 18.6 million Blu-ray players next year. Variety (subscription required) (11/3)

Marketing Trends

ESPN collaborates on Vaseline Men campaign
Michael Strahan, the former New York Giants defensive end who now stars on the TV show "Brothers," touts Vaseline Men in ads that show him working out and then rubbing on the lotion. ESPN is collaborating on the campaign with ad agency Bartle Bogle Hagarty. NYTimes.com (11/4)

Featured Content


Competitive Watch

Verizon eyes commercial customers for new fiber service
Verizon has started offering a fiber-to-the-desktop service dubbed Optical LAN Solutions to the federal government and is expected to extend the program to commercial customers soon. OLS uses single-mode fiber and basic GPON gear to build a local area network that can deliver up to 25 terahertz of capacity over 12 miles. Light Reading (11/3)

Association News

Keeping up with consumers through research
Researchers are sharing their knowledge through a guest-column series, made possible by CTAM and CableFax.com. Most recently, Horst Stipp, senior vice president strategic insights and innovation, NBCU, discussed the evolution of cross-platform media use over the last decade. 

4 CTAM reports for the price of 1
Get the most bang for your buck with CTAM's newest study, Life Stages & Life Styles: Turning Generational Differences Into Media Opportunities. Reports include TV and media behavior across generations, boomer segments and life stages, and a live webcast for all company employees highlighting key findings and a Q-and-A with industry experts.

Who's Hiring Industry Job Listings


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If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it."

--Andy Rooney,
American journalist and commentator


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