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Jim Keyes cut his teeth squeezing profits out of quickie marts and low cost snacks.  After about eight months trying to get Blockbuster back on track, the former 7-11 chief  and his management tactics may finally be working.

Thursday Blockbuster (BBI) reported earnings of $38.1m, or 18 cents a share on revenue of $1.57b.  Less severance related charges and other onetime costs, earnings came in at $54.9m (26 cents a share).  The numbers are a drastic improvement over the $8.3m (4 cents a share) earned during the same period last year.  The results also outpaced consensus analyst estimates of about 19 cents a share.

Much of the near term improvement is the result of cost cutting measures including scaling back advertising expenses (decreased about 26%) and closing down about 750 stores.

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After another quarter, profitability still remains elusive for TiVo but extending a trend the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) pioneer inched ever so slightly closer to the black.  Wednesday the Alviso based company reported a net loss better than expectations.

For the 4th quarter ended January 31st, TiVo reported a loss of $6.34m, or 6 cents a share.  The result generously beat consensus analyst expectations (via Thomson Financial) of a loss of 11cents a share.  The loss was a significant improvement over a loss of $19.5m, or 20cents a share for the same period last year.  The result was also an improvement over the company’s own November guidance (which called for a net loss of $9m to $12m). Adjusted EBITDA was $1.0 million, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of ($15.0) million in the year-ago period.

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Peter Lynch used to say, “the person that turns over the most rocks wins the game.”  The revolving door of executive management changes sometimes seems to fit that sentiment.  New strategies and new people come and go as individual and company both seek new challenges and new perspectives in the pursuit of their goals.    Over the past couple of weeks, from Warner Music to Atari to NBCU/GE to Facebook, even Sony’s Crackle, there have been a handful of high profile leadership changes.   

FACEBOOK
Facebook recently lost chief revenue officer and COO Owen Van Natta.   His departure left a void in the experienced leadership column for the high profile social network.   To fill the gap and add a figurehead with the balance of brains, expertise and managerial skill, they’ve lured away Google’s VP of Global Online Sales and Operations Sheryl Sandberg.

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From Arliss to Sex in the City to the Sopranos, HBO has a history of being experimental with the original programming they green light.   In scheduling, they haven’t historically been as daring.  Usually their broadcast timetable is relatively traditional and consistent.   With their new program “In Treatment” starring Gabriel Byrne they gambled.  Unfortunately, the five nights a week experiment hasn’t panned out with audiences. Still, even in failures there’s a perk:  the show’s struggle to catch on has opened the door to a rare opportunity for the cable network to explore online streaming of their content.

In the past streaming has been a “do not fly zone” for HBO.  Click to Read More

Hollywood studios fight and follow each other in the search for their next blockbuster movies so it probably  should come as no surprise that the same “follow the leader”  “anything you can do I can do better,” mentality applies to the talent agencies representing  those in  the films.  And that’s exactly what’s happening.   Like one shotgun wedding after another, or the line waiting outside the Elvis Wedding chapel in Vegas, pairs keep forming between venture capitalists and talent managers.

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Even though a handful of successful TV shows found their beginnings as short form serials (the Lone Ranger and the Simpson’s, to name a pair), the road to prime time television is rarely without potholes and stalling traffic.   As the old maxim goes, fame or success is “a fickle food – Upon a shifting plate.”  As net video program Quarterlife is finding out, that’s as true now as ever.

Quarterlife, a high concept Internet series about a group of twenty something artists coming of age in a digital world was expected to handle the transition to TV well.  Because the show was conceived with six one-hour story arcs, translation of formats seemed easy.  Click to Read More

Disney earnings were solid earlier this month, and their online performance has been sound too but that isn’t stopping them from shifting and tweaking their Internet approach.  The changes started with the purchase of Club Penguin in August.   In November they made moves to strengthen their M&A practice.  About ten days ago, they revealed Disney Online Studios – a new organization to focus on casual games and online social networks.  Now, it’s online video getting a makeover.

In a launch story fed to the LA Times, Disney revealed their latest group: Stage 9 Digital Media.  The group is an in house studio focused on developing original short form Internet programming for syndication on both Disney and 3rd party sites.   The first show from the studio is called Squeegees.  Debuting today, it’s a comedy about window washing slackers.  It will be distributed in ten episodes on ABC.Com and on YouTube.  20 other programs are also in development.

The idea for Stage 9 follows the lead of other Hollywood elite, including former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, and others, who are applying their talents and skill to online content creation. Click to Read More