The Morning Fix: Broadcasters tired of Obama, CBS earnings drop, bankrupt Chrysler buying ads
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After the coffee. Before the text messages.
Networks to Obama: Your show is on the bubble! The broadcast networks are griping to The Hollywood Reporter about the number of Obama press conferences and speeches in prime time, which eats at their already shrinking bottom lines. Of course, none of the executives would actually go on the record with their complaints.
CBS rounded out a depressing week for media companies with a $55.3 million net loss in the first quarter, but CEO Leslie Moonves said the company is seeing ‘early signs’ of a comeback in the ad market, although it’d be premature to call it a full recovery. On the plus side, the network will generate revenue from rerun sales of some of its dramas. The Los Angeles Times.
Cablevision, the New York based cable operator dangled the carrot that it is thinking of spinning off its sports teams--The New York Knicks and Rangers--as well as Madison Square Garden and Radio City. Investors, says The Wall Street Journal, are hoping that would set the stage for a sale of the cable systems, which are primarily located in New York City and Long Island.
Radio Nowhere? Sirius, the satellite radio broadcaster trumpeted subscriber gains of 3.5% compared to year ago in its latest quarterly report, but of real concern is the 400,000 subscribers that dropped the service in the last three months. CNBC
It’s nothing a little image campaign can’t fix. Advertising Age reports that Chrysler, which was forced into bankruptcy, is breaking a new national ad campaign to try to boost consumer confidence.
Amazon’s electronic reader Kindle needs to work on its pronunciation. The New York Times notes the device had trouble with not only the president’s name but also the Boston Celtics. Nuance, the company that provides the voice over for Kindle said if the device ‘encounters a word it has never seen, it approaches it almost like a kid, phonetically.’
--Joe Flint