Yahoo, NBA, Disney, RIM, Pandora, Amazon: Media Wall St. Report - 12-2

amp160Smartphone developer Research in Motion39s RIMM stock continues to struggle hitting a 5year low this week even as the market rallied The jury is out whether the firm will remake itself as the next PALM not necessarily a good thing but it39s becoming increasingly clear that Apple39s iPhone and Google39s Android platform are eating RIM39s lunch RIM has just not been able to capitalize on the popularity of its instant messaging platform among young peopleWhile much of Wall Street has soured on the previously highflying RIM they sing a different tune when it comes to Internet radio pioneer and recent IPO Pandora Media P The darling of most media analysts has seemed to almost get a free pass from the industry according to EVPRadio Analysis and Insights for Katz Radio Group Mary Beth GarberIn an article published on Radio Ink this week Garber questioned the motivation of the media39s love fest with Pandora quotIt would make a great project for a Social Sciences classamp8212how various press and bloggers with rare exception have simply accepted Pandora39s claims skepticismfree and then proceeded to exaggerate them even furtherquot she wrote Pandora39s stock hasn39t reflected the media39s approach though it39s down 40 from its first day of tradingBlack Friday has Internet media players seeing green as all kinds of records were set on the first day of shopping for the 20112012 holiday season According to the National Retail Federation a record 226 million shoppers hit the stores and websites over Black Friday weekend with the average shopper spending 93 more to about 400 and pushing the total spending to a record 524 billionOnline retailing giant Amazoncom AMZN definitely had its hand in these record volumes experiencing strong demand of its new tablet the Kindle Fire Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote to clients this week that he believes the tablet39s success is based off its quotstrong value proposition for consumersin an underserved market looking for a quality tablet at a low price pointquotAmazon reported that its Kindle family of devices sold 4x what it did last Black Friday with the new Fire tablet topping its bestselling list on its website Brick and mortar retailers also saw good sell through as Best Buy and Target reported strong sales of the devices Some industry analysts believe that Amazon has already sold over 2 million Fire tabletsBasketball fans had reason to cheer over Thanksgiving as the NBA and the players39 union reached an agreement to terminate the league39s lockout after 149 days The league is set to play an abbreviated season tipping off on Christmas Day Barclays Anthony DiClemente sees the new deal as quota small positive for Time Warner TWX and likely neutral for Disney DISquot lifting any overhang on both stocks caused by the lockout Close to 800 million in ad revenues were at stake small in comparison to the 3 billion spent on football but not insignificant for the networks Barclays believes that the networks may also see a prorata refund for the games not played or rights on additional games given as compensation for the shortenedseasonWall Street was almost as excited for Disney39s DIS dividend increase this week as they were for the firm39s new installment of The Muppets which opened to 40 million in its first five days of release The media conglomerate boosted its dividend by 50 prompting Lazard Capital39s Barton Crockett to read through positive signs to a general economic rebound in the media sector quotThe dividend news allows investors to draw a broader conclusion about the economic outlook We take that as a clear sign that Disney sees a healthy business and no double dip on the horizonquot he said this weekBloomberg broke the story that Yahoo might see a buyout bid from an investor group led by Chinese Internet firm Alibaba This deal would see all of Yahoo change hands as opposed to previously announced deals for just pieces of the firm If this deal is consummated Blackstone and Bain would take control of the US operations of the firm while Alibaba would buy back the stake in its own company that Yahoo already owns Japan39s Softbank would also participate buying a stake in Yahoo Japan Yahoo39s stock rose almost 5 on the news Many investors are skeptical that Yahoo will succeed in selling itself The offagainonagain process has hurt the company as the core business continues to erode Even more unclear is who the actual winning suitor might beRegardless most analysts agree that there is value to be unlocked through a deal for Yahoo Ken Sena an analyst at Evercore Partners Inc estimates Yahoo39s worth 18 a share with 5 coming from the US Internet business The socalled offbalancesheet assets including the Asian investments are worth 11 a share plus 2 in cash he saidMedia investors will get an inside glimpse of the future of the industry next week as the quotlongest running show on Wall Streetquot the UBS Global Media and Communications conference kicks off Top executives from leading media firms like Netflix NFLX Discovery Communications DISCA and Viacom VIA will present on the current state of the industry quotWhat are the important trends in video consumption distribution and monetizationquot will also be a recurring theme according to UBS39 Aryeh BourkoffSummaryA strong trading week follows strong holiday spending data Investors are still cautious to see how media firms will fare in an uncertain economic environmentYou are receiving this email as a corporate subscriber to Jack Myers Media Business Report Redistribution in any form except among approved individuals within your company is prohibited As a subscriber you have full access to all archives and reports at wwwjackmyerscom If you require your ID and password contact maryannjackmyerscom

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Yahoo, NBA, Disney, RIM, Pandora, Amazon: Media Wall St. Report - 12-2

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