Seth Gilbert, 03-5-2008
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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Seth Gilbert,
Things have gone from bad to worse for publishing house Ziff Davis Media and its Private Equity owner Willis Stein. Bankruptcy is now official.
Under mounting debt, things have been bad for some time. Last year the troubled company sold off their enterprise division ($160m in June). In August, they announced they’d be unable to make interest payments on their mounting debt. Today’s news that the company will seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to try and sort out the mess was a foregone conclusion.
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Seth Gilbert, 03-4-2008
Warner Music Group has made some recent staff changes at the roles marching them into the digital age. They’re also expanding their list of distribution partners with a deal struck between UK digital media shop 7Digital and Warner’s International division.
Effective starting today the entire Warner Music Catalog including music from Jackson Browne to James Blunt to the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be available without Digital Rights Management encryption in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Germany.
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Seth Gilbert,
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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Seth Gilbert, 03-3-2008
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
Seth Gilbert,
For all the achievements, kid centric, branded mobile phones haven’t been among Disney’s successes. For that matter, all past Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO’s license airspace from other network operators rather than running their own cellular network) efforts, including an ESPN sports themed mobile service, have failed for Disney. That isn’t stopping them from trying again. Somebody in Mouse-land thinks there’s gold “in d’em de’re hills” and it’s just a matter of getting the formula (and geography right).
Disney MVNO version 3, was officially revealed Monday. The new service will narrowly target the Japanese market in partnership with Softbank. It will also focus on a new demographic.
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Seth Gilbert,
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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