More Media Business articles

The struggling media group Vivendi Universal is considering spinning off its US entertainment business in a deal involving John Malone’s Liberty Media, according to press reports today. The Wall Street Journal claimed that Liberty is planning to merge its Starz and Encore cable networks and interest in the Discovery Channel’s parent with Vivendi’s American entertainment… Continue reading Vivendi Mulls US Spin-Off With Liberty

Pre-tax profits at global advertising network, WPP, fell by almost 30% in the six months to 30 June 2002, the company announced this morning. Turnover fell by 2.0% to £8.8 billion, following a very tough period for the advertising industry. What is more worrying for the industry is that WPP, which is something of a… Continue reading WPP Warns Of Little Ad Improvement This Year

Carlton and Granada, the UK’s two major commercial television broadcasters, are to forge stronger links in a bid to win back advertisers and viewers and cut costs at a time of financial uncertainty. Competition rules do not currently allow for a full merger of the two companies but Gerry Murphy, the chief executive of Carlton,… Continue reading ITV Power Brokers Team Up To Stop The Rot

The head of troubled media corporation, Vivendi Universal has sought to reassure investors after heavy share price falls in the second half of last week. In an open letter to staff and shareholders, chief executive Jean-René Fourtou admitted that the company was in difficulty but claimed to have “identified a strategy for getting out of… Continue reading Vivendi Chief Attempts To Allay Debt Concerns

The extent of the media slowdown was highlighted on Thursday when Liberty Media, the US cable giant, announced a first half deficit of $4.6 billion. This compares with losses of $2.3 billion in the first six months of last year. Liberty, which is owned by John Malone, has an 18% share in News Corporation which… Continue reading Reality Bites As Liberty Reveals Losses

AOL Time Warner has admitted for the first time that some of the revenues at its America Online division could have been wrongly attributed. The company said in a statement that three payments totalling $49 million may have been “improperly recognised” as advertising revenue. The transactions took place between the last quarter of 2000 and… Continue reading AOL Identifies Accounting Irregularities

Net loss at News Corp hit $1.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up considerably on the $265 million loss of the same period the previous financial year; full year loss rose from $445 million to $6.3 billion. Net profit fell by 8.0% to $636 million for the year. Excluding write-downs, revenues increased 10.0% to $15.2… Continue reading Write-Downs Hammer News Corp Figures

The crisis at Vivendi Universal deepened yesterday when the French-American media giant announced first half losses of E12.3 billion. The firm has now embarked on a major asset disposal programme after admitting that it needs to raise at least E10 billion in the next two years. Vivendi is reeling from the legacy of acquisitions made… Continue reading Record Losses Force Vivendi To Hawk Assets

Unlicensed file sharing services will continue to thrive until record labels allow internet users to download music legitimately, according to a new report from The Yankee Group. Consumers aged 14 and above downloaded 5.16 billion audio files in the US via unlicensed file-sharing services such as KaZaa, Morpheus and LimeWire in 2001. This is set… Continue reading Unlicensed Music Downloads To Peak In 2005, Says Yankee Group

Revenues at debt-laden cable company, NTL, remained pretty flat in the second quarter of the year, dropping slightly by just 1.1% to £627 million, according to the company’s financial results released today. Earnings rose by 51.3% to £174 million over the period. These results are posted against a backdrop of debt and impending recapitalisation which… Continue reading NTL Revenues Fall Slightly As Recapitalisation Approaches