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Liberty Media is set to make a second bid for Deutsche Telekom’s cable television assets, after its previous attempt was thwarted by the German Federal Cartel Office earlier in the year (see German Regulators Block Liberty Cable Deal). According to a report in today’s Financial Times, Liberty has forged an alliance with private equity investment… Continue reading Liberty Media Puts Together Second Deutsche Telekom Bid

According to a report in today’s Financial Times, Vivendi Universal is examining the possibility of selling its Express-Expansion magazine division as it looks to reduce a debt burden of E19 billion. Express-Expansion publishes sixteen titles including the French current affairs magazine, L’Express and potential buyers include the Dassault arms group which owns the centre-right newspaper,… Continue reading Vivendi Considers Sale Of Magazine Business

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