Veteran media fund manager Hal Vogel worries about stock market collapse
Veteran media-fund manager Hal Vogel has watched, warily, as media and entertainment stocks have mounted a spectacular run-up in the past year, with an average gain of 42% among big conglomerates Time Warner Inc., CBS Corp., Walt Disney Co., Comcast…
Ouster of Roland Martin sparks more worries about diversity at CNN
I’ve done a Storify post on the Twitterverse reaction to the news that Roland Martin’s contract will not be renewed at CNN. Read the Storify here. – David B. Wilkerson (A note, for those familiar with WordPress: There’s some situation…
Hard to see advantages of Cablevision’s suit against Viacom
Cablevision’s lawsuit this week against Viacom for “illegally” bundling desirable cable networks with channels that have low ratings must offer the cable operator advantages that can only be seen in the sealed court documents, because they don’t otherwise seem very…
Courts could eventually help Netflix, Google and others in cable wars
I’ve argued in this space that Netflix, Amazon Prime and other “over the top” online video providers can only be as successful as the conglomerates who own studios and networks allow them to be, since they decide what content to…
Outraged reaction to Onion tweet on Oscar night
View as slideshow The Twitterverse was up in arms Sunday evening after the 85th annual Academy Award ceremony, after The Onion referred to Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis, 9, as a “c__t.” The tweet was taken down, and The Onion apologized…
Don’t sleep on Redbox, analyst says; upside is possible during second half of ’13
People are underestimating DVD kiosk-rental provider Redbox, according to B. Riley Caris analyst Eric Wold. “What is lost in most arguments against Redbox is that physical rentals are still a $5.3B market – of which Redbox currently only has [an…
Cable could be headed for a wreck, but studios, networks can (and probably will) prevent it
Michael Wolff has a smart take on the future of the cable business in USA Today, arguing that the industry is foolishly trying to stave off a la carte in the face of its obvious inevitability. “TV Everywhere” is doomed…