April 14, 2008

NBCU's Quarter Shines, Parent's Pales

Good news from cable nets overshadowed by GE's declines, Blockbuster bids for Circuit City.

By Steve Goldstein

News Briefing for Monday, April 14, 2008

Cable360 tipster Brain Clark reports from NAB in Las Vegas that the implosion of the Stardust and the related loss of Tony Roma's has left him too depressed to leave his room at the Golden Gate hotel.

NBC Universal finished the first quarter of 2008 with a 3% year-over-year gain in operating profit, but it was just one of two of six General Electric units to show a gain, Variety reports. Parent GE reported one of its worst quarters in a while, resulting in a 13% stock decline. NBCU’s positive numbers for cable networks USA, Bravo, Oxygen, CNBC and MSNBC could not be cause for too much celebration considering the parent company’s gloomy results. [Variety]

Blockbuster has offered to buy consumer electronics retailer Circuit City for $6 a share, the Wall Street Journal reports. The offer was made public because “Circuit City has failed to provide due diligence necessary to allow Blockbuster to make a definitive proposal [and] because it believes the shareholders of Circuit City should have the opportunity to participate in determining the destiny of the company," Blockbuster said in a statement it released. Circuit City’s financial performance has been declining in the face of competition from Best Buy and Wal-Mart.  [Wall Street Journal]

History Channel has formed a partnership with the Library of Congress that will deliver material from the library’s collections to History’s viewers across several media, including linear TV, broadband and mobile platforms, according to Reuters/Hollywood Reporter. The partnership, which encompasses History International, History en Español and Military History Channel, will also bring Library of Congress content to schools that use History Channel’s educational tools. [Reuters]

Attempts by Yahoo to form a partnership with Google, thus preventing a hostile takeover by Microsoft, could be stymied by antitrust regulators in the U.S. and in Europe, Reuters reports. Regulators would probably approve an acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft. [Reuters]

Briefly Noted
The Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialog, a coalition of American and European consumer organizations, recently adopted net neutrality principles. [Ars Technica]

Leslie Moonves earned $36.8 million in 2007 in his role as CBS Corp. president and CEO, Variety reports. [Variety]

Got a tip? Contact sgoldstein@accessintel.com and sarenstein@accessintel.com.

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